(אַדְּרָא רִבָּא ). i.e., the Great Assembly, is the title of one of the many parts which compose the Sohar, the famous thesaurus of Jewish mysticism. It is called "Great Assembly," because it purports to give the discourses which rabbi Simon ben Jochai (q.v.) delivered to his disciples, who congregated around him in large numbers. Upon the summons of the Sacred Light, his disciples assembled to listen to the secrets and enigmas contained in the Book of Mysteries. Hence it is chiefly occupied with a description of the form and various members of the Deity; a disquisition on the relation of the Deity, in his two aspects of the aged and the young, to the creation and the universe, as well as on the diverse gigantic members of the Deity, such as the head, the beard, the eyes, the nose, etc.; a dissertation on pneumatology, daemonology, etc. It concludes with telling us that three of the disciples died during these discussions. This part of the Sohar is translated in the second volume of Rosenroth's Kabbala Denudafa. (B.P.)
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More