The present chapter is devoted to a discussion of the mystical elements in apocalyptic. Particular attention will be given to those apocalyptic books, which describe heavenly ascensions and contain relatively detailed accounts of visions in which God and His hosts of angels appear to the apocalyptic vision- aries. In the previous chapter, we discussed several elements of Jewish apoca- lyptic in the light of some characteristic notions found in biblical Prophecy and Wisdom. Apocalyptic is much too complex a phenomenon to be explained by an either/or-theory, that is, in the light of either Prophecy or Wisdom.1 Nor can justice be done to the phenomenon if only one central quality is selected as its more characteristic feature, and the one that allegedly can best explain it. Prophecy and Wisdom both had their respective share in the formation of apocalyptic, but there were also other factors, which contributed in their own ways to endow apocalyptic with its idiosyncratic shape and content.
Mystical visions had their antecedents in biblical literature. However, the manners, in which these visions are described in apocalyptic, and the place they occupy there, make it clear that a new religious mood and interest pre- vails in these books. It would be difficult to assess with certainty the role and place that these mystical visions occupied within the general apocalyptic experience. In any event, it seems safe to say that, in comparison to the parallel material in Scripture, the mystical visions found in apocalyptic literature are much more intense and elaborate in terms of content and literary embellish- ment. The main passages in Scripture, which contain relevant materials, are 1 Kings 22, 19; Isaiah 6, 1 ff.; and Ezekiel 1; 3, 22–24; 7, 1 ff.; 10.2 In a broader sense, one can include here the theophany at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19, 16–18; 20, 15–18; 24, 16–18; Deuteronomy 5:19–24), and the prologue to the Book of Job. Finally, we find the vision of Daniel 7, 9–10, which evidently is in line with the visions described in Isaiah and Ezekiel. However, due to its date of composition it is
1 In recent years, it was G. von Rad, Theologie des Alten Testaments (München: Ch. Kaiser Verlag, 1966), Band II, p. 327, who advocated the Wisdom-origin of apocalyptic: “die apoka- lyptischen Schriften . . . in der Überlieferung der Weisheit wurzeln”.
2 A similar vision is referred to in 43, 3–4; but the vision in 8, 2 is most probably that of an angel. Compare also Daniel 10, 5–6.
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often considered an example of apocalyptic literature. Referring to certain fea- tures in the theophany-tradition in the early history of the people of Israel, F. M. Cross observed that, “It is not coincidental that the language of theoph- any and the imagery of revelation derived from the mythology of the storm- God largely fell out of use, beginning in the ninth century, and including the two centuries to follow, in prophetic Yahwism. The prophets chose another language, other imagery with which to describe their intercourse with Yahweh, drawn as we have seen from the concept of the messenger of the Council of ʾEl . . . Nevertheless, they used a refined or purged language of revela- tion, because Yahweh, so to say, no longer used the storm as a mode of self- manifestation”.3 It appears that Cross had in mind the difference in language and imagery between such scenes of theophany as those described in 2 Samuel 22, 8–16 on the one hand, and those described in Isaiah and Ezekiel on the other. Schematizations, though, whenever they are made, should be applied with caution, and it seems that Ezekiel 1, 4, for instance, still has something in common with the storm-God kind of theophany. Noteworthy is the fact that God is described in the theophany of 2 Samuel 22 as riding the stormy clouds, yet He still occupies there a palace (Hekhal; v.7) as He does in Isaiah 6, 1.4
There is a vast literature in which the various types of biblical theophany are extensively discussed.5 We may, therefore, immediately turn to those visions in Scripture which are more mystically oriented, that is, visions in which God appears in a man-like form and seated upon a throne. The relevant visions in this respect are those in 2 Kings, in Isaiah, in Ezekiel and in Daniel. Taken together these visions display the following characteristic features:
a. God is sitting on a throne;
b. He has the appearance of a man (in the Book of Ezekiel) and particularly that of an old, white-haired man (in Daniel);
3 F. M. Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1973), p. 191.
4 It is useless to enter here the discussion whether Isaiah saw the Hekhal in heaven or on earth in the temple in Jerusalem. A rather fantastic view on the subject is expressed by A. Aptowitzer in Tarbiẓ II (1931), pp. 144–145. According to Aptowitzer, Isaiah actually saw the
Hekhal in the Jerusalem-Temple, but in the course of the vision, Isaiah himself translated the
whole scenery unto heaven!
5 Some of the more recent extensive studies of the subject of biblical theophany are: J. Lindblom, “Theophanies in Holy Places in Hebrew Religion,” Hebrew Union College Annual XXXII (1961), pp. 91–106; J. Jeremias, Theophanie: Die Geschichte einer alttestamentlichen
c. God is sitting in a palace (2 Kings, Isaiah, and Daniel);6
d. Fire occupies an important position in the vision (Ezekiel, Daniel and indirectly also in Isaiah);7
e. God is accompanied by angels who minister to Him (2 Kings, Isaiah, Eze- kiel, and Daniel);
f. The angels recite doxologies (Isaiah and Ezekiel).
All these elements became major components in the mystical visions found in apocalyptic visions and later on in the Merkavah visions of the Hekhalot litera- ture. If one can speak of a Jewish mystical tradition in post-biblical times that showed homogeneous features, then, it seems, those enumerated above are the most characteristic ones in that tradition. This does not mean that these elements are all simultaneously found and equally presented in all the visions we know of. Although later visionaries allowed themselves freedom of cogni- tive and literary imagination, it may be said that they followed some kind of standard, the nature of which was modeled on these features.
We shall now turn to an analysis of the various mystical visions in apoca- lyptic literature. Our attention will be given chiefly to those elements in the visions, which were dominant in later developments of Jewish mysticism.
B
First, we will deal with the two visions contained in the Ethiopic Enoch (1 Enoch) chapters 4 and 71. These two visions do not belong to the same literary stratum, and it is generally believed that the second one belongs to the latest part of the book. What, however, they have in common is that in contradistinction to the mystical visions in Scripture, they maintain that the visions were granted in
6 As for Isaiah, see above footnote 4. The visions in 2 Kings and in Daniel do not explicitly men- tion a palace, but there is nothing in them that contradicts the assumption that a divine pal- ace is actually presupposed there. In Ezekiel, however, it is clear that God is moving about in the cosmos. The visions in Amos 7, 7 and 9, 1 seem to belong to a different type of theophany: their allegorical features are predominant.
7 Decisive in this respect was the theophany on Mount Sinai where God revealed Himself in the Great Fire (Deuteronomy 4, 7). See E. E. Urbach, “The Traditions about Merkabah Mysticism in the Tannaitic Period”, Studies in Mysticism and Religion Presented to Gershom
G. Scholem (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1967), Hebrew Section, pp. 7 ff.—It should be noted
that crystal and sapphire play a major role in mystical visions. We shall come back to this point soon.
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the course of heavenly ascensions.8 It has been noted in the previous chapter that in Scripture nothing attainable to man is to be searched for in heaven. Everything that humans need to know is revealed in such a manner that they need not search for extraordinary and supernatural experiences to attain that knowledge. Unfortunately, lack of literary evidence makes it difficult for us to state with certainty when heavenly ascensions were first systematically prac- ticed in Judaism. What can be said is that, at least at the time of the composi- tion of the Book of Enoch, the practice was already seriously considered by the people to whom the book was addressed.
The vision of 1 Enoch 14 comes in the middle of the scene where Enoch is described as having ascended unto heaven to intercede on behalf of the fallen angels. It is introduced in 14, 8 where Enoch says that in his dream vision he saw himself uplifted to heaven by clouds.9 The first thing which Enoch says he saw in heaven is a wall which is built of white marble and surrounded by tongues of fire (14, 9). As it turned out, the wall surrounded a house. The house, no doubt, is identical with the heavenly divine palace,10 yet the manner in which it is described requires our comment. The house, its walls, its floor and its groundwork, were built of crystal.11 Now, this description of the marble-like
8 Aramaic fragments of this vision as they were found in Cave 4 at Qumran are now pub- lished by J. T. Milik, The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976), pp. 348–351. Unfortunately, the texts are too fragmentary to draw relevant conclusions from them, and Milik’s attempts to reconstruct the text cannot be discussed here. According to J. Daniélou, Théologie du Judéo-Christianisme (Tournai: Desclée and Co., 1958), pp. 131 ff., heavenly ascensions are the trade-mark of Jewish- Christian apocalyptic. Yet, this view has its obvious tendentious shortcomings. See G. W. E. Nickelsburg, 1 Enoch 1: A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch, Chapter 1–36; 81–108 (Fortress Press: Minneapolis, 2001). Nickelsburg offers an up-to-date and detailed assess- ment of the materials discussed here. See, further, I. Gruenwald, “The Commentary on 1 Enoch,” in J. Neusner & A. Avery-Peck (eds.), George Nickelsburg in Perspective: An
Ongoing Dialogue of Learning, Vol 2 (Brill: Leiden – Boston, 2003) pp. 395–408.
9 The details of the ascent are not sufficiently clear, though the whole description most likely derives from 2 Kings 2, 11. See further 1 Enoch 39, 3; 52, 1; 70, 2; 2 Enoch 3, 1 (version A). In one midrashic source, we hear that Moses ascended to heaven in a cloud: Pesiktā
Rabbati, ed. M. Friedmann, 96/b (= A. Jellinek, Bet Ha-Midrasch, vol. I, p. 59). In Tanḥumā
(ed. Buber), “Ẓav”, Parag. 16, it is said that righteous people ascend to heaven in clouds which God supplies for that purpose.
10 The analysis of this vision as found in H. Bietenhard, Die himmlische Welt im Urchristentum
und Spätjudentum (Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1951), p. 54, by no means
exhausts the material.
11 The Greek fragments of 1 Enoch here use two separate terms: of the wall surrounding the house (verse 9) it is said that it was built ἐν λίθοις χαλάζης (= of hailstones; cf. Isaiah 30,
appearance of the walls most probably derives from Ezekiel 1, 22, where the prophet says that “Over the heads of the living creatures there was the like- ness of a firmament, shining like crystal” (LXX).12 This description of what the walls of the house looked like is quite rare, and actually its main parallel is to be found in two places connected with the visions of the Hekhalot mystics.13 What equally strikes the eye in the sight of the walls is the fact that they are sur- rounded by fiery flames. This fire is mentioned in this vision twelve times. This naturally enhances the “numinous” quality of the vision.14 The fact that Enoch went into the tongues of fire without being burned could be reminiscent of Isaiah 43, 2—“when you walk through fire you shall not be burned”—with all its eschatological connotations. Yet, it also bears resemblance to 2 Enoch 22, which tells that in order to protect him against the dangers that might befall a mortal who is bodily translated onto heaven Enoch was divested of his earthly
30), while of the walls mentioned in verse 10 it is said that they were in the likeness of snow (Telag is the Aramaic term used in the text published by Milik). The existence of hailstones in heaven could be inferred from Joshua 10, 11 and Job 38, 22; see also 1 Enoch 69, 23, to say nothing of the fact that hail comes from the sky! See further Ezekiel 38, 22; Revelation 16, 21. Cf. also Mechilta d’Rabbi Ismael, ed. Horovitz-Rabin, p. 111. Job 38, 22 likewise mentions the heavenly origin of snow. In Bav. Ḥagigah 12/b, the treasuries of snow and hail are said to be found in the sixth heaven, Makhon, while 2 Enoch 5, 1 locates the treasuries of hail in the first heaven! Rivers of hail and treasuries of snow are also mentioned in Maʿaseh Merkavah (ed. G. Scholem, Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism,
and Talmudic Tradition: Appendix C, pp. 103 ff.) §§ 3 (p. 103) and 10 (p. 108; rivers of hail
only). See further Tanḥumā, “Terumah”, Parag. 11. The heavenly snow is actually considered as the material out of which the earth was created: Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer, chapter 3; Rabbi Yoḥanan in Bereshit Rabbā, ed. Theodor-Albeck, p. 75. Cf. H. F. Weiss, Untersuchungen
zur Kosmologie des hellenistischen und palästinischen Judentum (Berlin: Akademie Verlag,
1966), pp. 96–97. The material collected in L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of
the World (Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1970), pp. 118–119, by no means does justice to the
wealth of material available.
12 The Hebrew text here implies a slightly different sense: “awesome crystal”. All this provided that the Hebrew qeraḥ really is the equivalent to the Greek ‘krystalos’.
13 Hekhalot Zutarti (quoted and translated in G. Scholem, op. cit., p. 15), and Bav. Ḥagigah 14/b. We shall come back to this point in the next chapter.
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garments and clad in heavenly, priest-like, ones.15 G. Scholem rightly explained such experiences in terms of a mystical transfiguration.16
They certainly belong to the heart of the apocalyptic and mystical experiences.17 In any event, Enoch had to pass twice through such fiery flames, first when he passed through the wall and then when he entered the house.
When he entered the house, Enoch was overwhelmed with fear. Typical of such a state of extreme terror, he felt cold and hot almost simultaneously (verses 14–15).18 Then, as it turned out, he saw another house, which was within the first one.19 The second house, Enoch says, “excelled [the first one] in splen- dor and magnificence”, but, apart from the ceiling, it more or less resembled the first one.20 The second house contained the Throne of God, about which
15 See, similarly, Ascension d’Isaie, 9, 9, ed. E. Tisserant (Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1909). See further J. Maier, “Das Gefärdungsmotiv bei der Himmelsreise in der jüdischen Apokalyptik und ‘Gnosis’”, Kairos V (1963), pp. 18–40.
16 Scholem, op. cit., p. 60. To the parallel material adduced by Scholem (pp. 56–64 and 132),
one should add Pistis Sophia, English Translation G. R. S. Mead (London: John M. Watkins, 1963), p. 18. In Pistis Sophia, Jesus is reported to tell his disciples that he had clad himself in special light-vestures by the help of which he succeeded in passing the various heavenly evil-beings without being harmed by them.
17 M. Smith, Clement of Alexandria and a Secret Gospel of Mark (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1973), pp. 243–244, sees in the synoptic tradition about the transfiguration of Jesus a piece of key information about the mystical activity of Jesus. Yet, the way in which Smith infers the kind of baptism-mysticism, which Jesus allegedly practiced, seems to be rather hypothetical.
18 The terror seizing the apocalyptic visionary is a recurring topos in apocalyptic and mystical visions. A notable exception is Revelation 4, where no such feelings are reported. 19 H. Bietenhard, op. cit., p. 54 sees in the first house “eine Vorhalle”. Yet, we know from the
Hekhalot literature that the seven palaces in the seventh heaven were like “a room within
a room”. See, for instance, Hekhalot (Synopse, § 206). However, the Aramaic fragments of 1 Enoch published by Milik (above, n. 8) make the impression that the visionary saw only one “house”. Compare the expression ḥadrei hekhal demamah in Hekhalot Rabbati (Synopse, §§ 97 and 157). It should be noticed that the term demamah does not imply here quietness but a whisper. See E. Y. Kutscher, in: Archiv of the New Dictionary of Rabbinical
Literature, I, (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University, 1972 [in Hebrew]), pp. 77–78. See further Sifre to Numbers (ed. Horowitz), p. 56, where the angels are said to speak in low voice.
20 While it is said of the ceiling of the first house that it was “like the path of the stars and lightning between which (stood) fiery cherubim, and their heaven of water” (14, 11), the ceiling of the second house is only briefly described: “as for the ceiling, it was flaming fire” (v. 17). It should be noticed (1) that cherubim are seen only in the ceiling of the first house; (2) the “heaven” in connection with the first ceiling is not quite clear; and (3) both descriptions are only loosely influenced by the way Ezekiel describes the firmament which he saw above the heads of the Creatures.
Enoch says: “its appearance was like crystal,21 and its wheels like the shining sun;22 and (I heard?) the voice of the cherubim” (v. 18).23 From underneath the throne there came out streams of fire,24 which made it difficult for Enoch to look at the Throne.25
From the vision of the Throne Enoch continues to the vision of the Godhead, and says that “the Great Glory26 was sitting upon it. As for his gown, which was
21 The description of the “lofty throne” (θρόνον ὑψηλόν) derives from Isaiah 6, 1 (LXX: θρόνου ὑψηλου) and from Ezekiel 1, 26. The “crystal” of which the throne is made of is unique. Ezekiel says that the throne was “in appearance like sapphire” (1, 26; 10, 1). Sapphire was generally believed to be the stone of which the throne was made of. See Exodus 24, 10; Bav. Ḥulin 89/a: “. . . and the firmament is like the sapphire, and the sapphire is like the throne of the Glory”. Similarly it is said of the rod of Moses that it was made of sap- phire; Tanḥumā, “Beshalaḥ”, xxi. Likewise, the Tablets of the Law were hewn from the Sapphire (Tanḥumā, “Ki Tisā”, xxix). In one place, we also hear that the ark was made of sapphire! (Tanḥumā, “Beshalaḥ”, xxi; compare Exodus 25, 10 ff.). As for the color of the sapphire, it is generally considered as blue (Bav. Ḥulin 89/a: “. . . since blue is like the sea, and the sea looks like the firmament, and the firmament is like the sapphire, and the sapphire is like the throne of the Glory”). One source, though, (Lekaḥ Tov, to Exodus 24, 10) says that the color of the sapphire is white! See further, G. Scholem, “Farben und ihre Symbolik in der jüdischen Überlieferung und Mystik,” in: Judaica III (Frankfurt am Main.: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1970), pp. 117–119.
22 See Ezekiel 1, 16 and Daniel 7, 9.
23 The English Translation is that of E. Isaac in J. H. Charlesworth (ed.), The Old Testament
Pseudepigrapha (Garden City: Doubleday and Company, 1983), I, pp. 5–89. There is a vast
literature dealing with the cherubim. Still relevant is the discussion of W. F. Albright, “What Were the Cherubim”, Biblical Archeologist I (1938), pp. 1–3. See further P. Schäfer,
Rivalität zwischen Engeln und Menschen (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1975), pp. 18–20.
24 1 Enoch 14, 19: ποταμοὶ πυρὸς φλεγόμενοι. Compare Daniel 7, 10, where only one ποταμὸς πυρός is mentioned. In 3 Enoch 19 and 33 four and seven streams of fire are mentioned respectively. In Maʿaseh Merkavah § 3 (Scholem, Jewish Gnosticism, p. 103) twelve thousand streams of fire are referred to, while in Revelation 4, 5 no streams of fire are mentioned at all. See also G. Scholem, ibid., pp. 56–57.
25 The idea that no human being can see the face of God and survive is first expressed in Exodus 33, 20. Hekhalot Rabbati (Synopse, § 189) contains a description of how the four Creatures come out from underneath of the Throne and dance before God. The text there says that in the course of their dance they uncover their faces, while God covers His own. In another place (§ 159) it is said that he who looks at God is immediately destroyed.