Daniel, Apocalypse of

Growth Out of the Older.

The Neo-Hebraic apocalyptic forms but one branch of Apocalyptic Literature, a species of literature exhibiting many ramifications, and represented in a complex but unbroken chain, from the time of the Maccabean War down to the close of the Middle Ages. It is characteristic of Apocalyptic Literature from its very beginning that it did not remain confined to its native Palestine. It made its way almost immediately to Hellenistic Alexandria, where it appears in the Greek language under the mask of the heathen Sibyl and with other mythological embellishments. The same thing occurred again when, at the rise of Christianity, the Church took over the apocalyptic without change in essence or even in artistic form from the Synagogue, and made it her own—a fact admitted by all modern New Testament critics—and the apocalyptic writings, thereafter naturalized in the literatures of the Occident as of the Orient, may be traced through the centuries. Nor did this transplanting process take place only in apostolic times. In the course of its development the Christian apocalyptic drew freely from later Jewish sources, which, on the other hand, were often influenced directly or indirectly by the apocalyptic of the Church. Considering this uninterrupted flux and reflux of Apocalyptic Literature during upward of a millennium and a half, it seems on the face of the matter improbable that the Neo-Hebraic apocalyptic should date no farther back than the middle of the eighth century, as Zunz (compare "Literaturgescn." pp. 603; "G. V." 295, 9:417 et seq.) and Grätz ("Gesch." 5:441; "Monatsschrift," 8:67 et seq., 103 et seq., 140 et seq., 9:60 et seq.) maintained, and still more improbable, that it should exhibit, as these scholars believed, an entirely new character and trend of thought, the resultant of the specific influences and tendencies operating in medieval times. The apocalyptic research and discoveries of the last few decades have proved, indeed, that quite opposite conclusions as to date and character must be drawn. It has been shown ever more convincingly, that the characteristic feature of Apocalyptic Literature is constancy in ideas, the same set of thoughts being handed down from generation to generation without undergoing any material modification. It has been pointed out further, that the intricate connection among the different apocalypses, where direct literary influence is frequently out of the question, can be explained only by the assumption of an apocalyptic tradition, transmitted orally as an esoteric doctrine. In the same way as Christianity created no new and characteristic apocalyptic expectations, so a later age adopted its apocalyptic material ready for use from the past; the Middle Ages did not create nor invent in this province, they merely worked over the material handed down to them, putting merely a new stamp on the old coin; their task was, on the one hand, to apply the old hopes and promises to the present, and, on the other, to interpret the present according to these hopes. In the case of the Neo-Hebraic apocalyptic it was precisely the same.

The nature and object of the Neo-Hebraic are the same as those of the older apocalyptic. The great question in it, too, is, how and when will the period of Messianic glory be realized: a natural question in postexilic times, in the face of the unfulfilled promises of the Prophets. The answer—identical with that given in Daniel and the succeeding apocalypses —lay in the dualistic conception of two worlds: a present world (

General Tone.

In general tone and coloring the older apocalypse served as model for the Neo-Hebrew. It shows the same particularism and narrow nationalism that predominate in the later, according to which the kingdom of God means salvation for faithful Israel alone, but for the unrepentant heathen world damnation. Similarly the Christian apocalyptic grants future bliss only to the faithful adherents of the Church. In like manner, the gross sensuousness in the detailed description of the joys of the Messianic and supramundane world is quite common in the older apocalyptic. So also is the fact that besides the revelations regarding the end of time, and the occurrences in that period, there are not infrequently other revelations concerning supernatural subjects—for example, heaven, hell, and paradise, the mysteries of the Creation, the course of the universe, angels, and the whole world of spirits, even God Himself—and in these revelations, the fantasy in the older apocalyptic is quite as unrestrained and extravagant as that in the later. Similarly, the one-sided emphasis laid in the Neo-Hebraic apocalyptic upon the ideal way in which the Torah is to be fostered in the future world, and on the pouring out of the Holy Spirit over all men, is in conformity with the spirit of the older apocalyptic; in fact, is in accord with the whole development of the religious life and thought of the Jews from the time of the Maccabees, according to which the Torah is not only the creative, preservative principle, which existed ages before the creation of the world as the essence of God's consciousness, but is also the sum and center of God's design with man (compare Sirach,; Baruch, 3:14 to 4:1; Enoch, 48:1; Sibylline, 3:757 et seq., 769 et seq., 787; Abot, 6:10; Pes. 54a; Zeb. 116a; Mekilta, 68b—ed. Weiss; B. B. 75a; Pesiḳ. 107a—ed. Buber—etc.). Schürer's remark is to the point, that fulfilment of the Law and hope of future glory were the two poles around which the whole religious life of later Judaism revolved ("Gesch." 3d ed., 2:466 et seq.). This also accounts for the fact that the apocalypses repeatedly contain legal instruction and exposition of the Law besides the revelation of the future and other supernatural mysteries; see Book of Jubilees and Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs for the older literature, andthe "Alphabets of R. 'Aḳiba" and "Otot" or "Milḥamot Melek ha-Mashiaḥ" for the Neo-Hebrew.

External Characteristics.

Finally, the Neo-Hebrew apocalypses likewise show all the external characteristics of the older. Like these, they claim to be revelations made through the medium of angels, and their authors conceal their real identity by pseudonyms, borrowing for this purpose the names of celebrated holy men of the past—hence the name Pseudepigrapha for the apocalyptic writings. The authors skilfully add plausibility to the claim that their writings are ancient prophecies, by making a review of contemporary, and frequently also of past, history, in the guise of a vision of the future. In this way every apocalypse contains the key to the date of its origin, this date coinciding with that period at which such "prophecy after the event" breaks off, and the real prophecy of the future begins, the prediction of the immediate approach of judgment for the wicked and of salvation for the good. This pious deception on the part of the writers was for the purpose of awakening in the hearts of their readers, who were living in a period of gloom and bitter trial, that belief in the blissful future promised them, which filled their own souls. For in times of oppression and persecution the apocalypse was essentially the literary medium through which the minds of the faithful were appealed to, and it could attain such power only through an alleged sanctity as an ancient revelation.

In the Talmudic Age.

This leads to the corollary that every age of great political agitation had its apocalypses, and that it would seem impossible that all productive activity in this sphere should have lain utterly dormant during the Talmudic period. The oldest apocalyptic monument, the Book of Daniel, is the direct fruit of the fanatical religious persecution exercised by Antiochus Epiphanes (see see APOCALYPSE). When the Jews came into conflict with the Roman empire, a conflict lasting for two centuries, every phase of this varying drama was accompanied by apocalypses, from the conquest of Jerusalem by Pompey to the despotic rule of Antony and Cleopatra in Egypt, and down to the last desperate struggle and bloody persecution under Hadrian. In like manner, as will be mentioned, there are apocalypses contemporaneous with the great political vicissitudes of the Sassanian period (227-642). But a part from independent apocalypses themselves, the Talmud contains much apocalyptic matter that not only attests the interest with which the Jews followed the wars against Rome waged by Sapor I. (died 271) and Sapor II. (died 379), believing that these wars were the unmistakable signs of the imminence of God's kingdom, but proves also beyond doubt that apocalyptic writing flourished no less in Talmudic than in post-Talmudic times. For example, a passage in Yoma, 10a, for which Joshua b. Levi, a contemporary of Sapor I., is mentioned as the authority, shows how, in the face of the victorious wars of Sapor I. against Rome, the prophecy contained in Daniel 8 (about the war between the Medo-Persian and the Grecian kingdoms) was believed to refer to Sapor's wars with Rome. To determine the ultimate issue of these wars, an old and familiar apocalyptic tradition was there cited, according to which, before the advent of the Messiah, Rome, the fourth and last world-monarchy, would extend her godless dominion over the whole world for the space of nine months. Similarly, in Shebu. 6b there is a passage dating from the time of Sapor II.'s wars with Rome, in which the statement in Daniel 7:23 about the fourth world-monarchy is quoted to show conclusively that no other outcome is possible than that Rome should triumph over Persia. In Sanh. 97a-98b there are preserved a number of apocalyptic calculations of those times; also, among other things, excerpts from revelations which the above-mentioned R. Joshua b. Levi—who also figures as the author of an apocalypse (see below)—was supposed to have received from the mouth of the prophet Elijah as well as from the very Messiah himself.

Historical Value.

The entire Apocalyptic Literature is of great historical value. Toward the close of antiquity and through the Middle Ages it exercised extensive and permanent influence on the thought of the times. It reflects the hopes and fears which swayed the masses for over fifteen hundred years, and reflects them more directly than any other class of contemporary literature. All the strange erratic thoughts—which seem now but the outgrowth of a morbid fantasy, so grotesque and unmeaning do they appear—were once full of life and keen significance, and had the power to move the readers to the depths of their being. The uneasiness and solicitude about the approaching end of the world, which were of constant recurrence during the Middle Ages, were nothing more than the impression made by the threats and promises of the apocalypses upon minds already susceptible and excited by external events. And in the history of the Jews in particular, the apocalypse was one of the most telling factors, contributing, as it did in such large measure, to determine the unique course of its development until long after the close of the Middle Ages. The courage and persistency in their belief which the Jews have shown from the time of the Maccabees down to modern times, their indomitable hope under persecution, their scorn of death, were all nourished by the Apocalyptic Literature. The darker their present grew, the more desperate their condition in the later medieval period, the more eagerly did their minds turn to the comfort offered by the apocalyptic promises which predicted the end of their suffering and the dawn of their delivery.

The following outlines of the separate apocalypses will illustrate the characteristics of the Neo-Hebrew apocalyptic. Only certain general points, however, are treated here, as the preliminary investigation, upon which any exhaustive treatment would have to be based, has not yet been made in this branch of Apocalyptic Literature.

1. Book of Enoch (Ḥanok),

Book of Enoch.

Even up to the present day this book has been confounded with "Pirḳe Hekalot," also said to have been written by R. Ishmael, and hence has been called erroneously

After chapter of Jellinek's edition six chapters are missing. The Lemberg edition breaks off suddenly in the middle of the apocalypse, what follows belonging to "Hekalot Rabbati" with the exception of the "addition" (

This apocalypse is quoted very often in the rabbinical literature of the Middle Ages, particularly in the cabalistic branch. In the ZOHAR it is even twice called "Sefer Razin de Ḥanok" ("The Book of the Secrets of Enoch") (at the beginning of section Teẓawweh, f. 80b, ed. Amst.; for other passages in the Zohar in which the book is quoted, see Zunz, "Etwas über Rabbinische Literatur," p. 13). Excerpts of chaps. to are contained in the manuscript works of Eleazar of Worms (Cod. Munich, 81) "with many better readings" than in Jellinek (Steinschneider, "Hebr. Bibl." 14:32 et seq.). A new critical edition is much to be desired, and in connection with the preparation of such, it would be necessary to determine to what extent the quotations from the Book of Enoch in the rabbinical literature of the Middle Ages belong to the present book, or are taken from other books of Enoch. There are, for example, lengthy quotations from the Book of Enoch in the manuscript work, "Mishkan ha-'Edut" of Moses de Leon, which are not in the book under consideration (given by Jellinek, "B. H." 2:31, 3:195 et seq., and variants by Steinschneider, "Hebr. Bibl." iv 152 et seq.).

This book is an interesting specimen of the apocalypse, and illustrates strikingly many of the characteristics of the literature to which it belongs. It shows an intimate dependence upon the "Book of the Secrets of Enoch" discovered some years ago in a Slavonic translation. A brief synopsis of the book will best show the metamorphosis which the old pseudepigraphic writing underwent, and what new elements from other apocalypses were added in the process; it will also show that there is justification for considering it a genuine apocalypse and treating it altogether apart from the "Hekalot" literature.

The book opens with the verse Genesis 5:24 concerning Enoch's godly life. R. Ishmael narrates how he ascended into heaven to see the Merkabah, and how, after he had passed through six heavenly halls, Meṭaṭron came to meet him at the entrance to the seventh, and conducted him inside, leading him straight before the celestial chariot into the presence of God (compare "Secrets of Enoch," 21:2b-5). At the sight of the heavenly hosts Ishmael fell unconscious; but God motioned them back and Meṭaṭron restored Ishmael to consciousness. Ishmael then proclaimed the glory of the Lord, and all the angels joined him. In chap. Meṭaṭron conquers the objection of the angels to Ishmael's approach to God's throne. In chaps. - and - Meṭaṭron relates to Ishmael that he is Enoch b. Jared, and that at the time of the Deluge God had him translated to heaven, by his angel 'Anpi'el, in a chariot of fire, that there he might bear eternal witness against his sinful contemporaries. Further that God, overcoming the protests of the heavenly hosts, transfigured him with the rays of heavenly glory and made him as one of themselves, in order that he might serve before His throne as one of the highest angel-princes (compare "Secrets of Enoch," 22:6b-10); that first, however, the Angel of Wisdom, at God's command, had instructed him in all wisdom and knowledge (compare ib. 22:11,12 and ) and had imparted to him all the mysteries of creation, of heaven and earth, of past and future things, and of the world to come (compare ib. -33:2). In chap. Meṭaṭron tells Ishmael that, after Adam was driven out of paradise God abode under the tree of life, and the angels and heavenly hosts descended to the earth in many divisions. Adam and his generation, sitting at the entrance to paradise, beheld the heavenly glory until, in the time of Enoch, 'Aza and 'Azael led men to idolatry (compare ib. 31:2, where it is said, however, that at the time Adam dwelt in paradise "God made the heavens open to him that he might behold the angels," etc., and the following words, the meaning of which is obscure, occur: "and he was constantly in paradise").

Contents of "Enoch."

Chaps. - (not in Jellinek's edition) describe the seven heavens with their hosts of angels, and the courses of the sun, moon, and stars, dwelling with special minuteness on the highest heaven and its hosts. This account is an interesting mixture of the description of the seven heavens contained in "Ascensio Isaiæ" and of that given in the "Secrets of Enoch." As in the former, the seven heavens are represented as being inhabited by angels, and as increasing in glory in each successive heaven; and they are described in the descending order. And just as recension A of "Secrets of Enoch" mentions, besides the seven heavens, an eighth (muzalot) and a ninth (kuchavim) and above them all a tenth ('arabot), the seat of God's glory, so this book has a separate heaven for the sun and moon, together with the stations of the moon (mazzalot), another for the stars (kokabim)—with the difference, however, that these two are under the seven heavens—and a highest heaven over them all, called here also 'arabot, the abode of God and of the highest angelic hosts.

In chap. Meṭaṭron describes to Ishmael the winds issuing from the cherubim of the heavenly chariot, and tells how these, after traversing the universe, enter paradise to waft the fragrant odors and exquisite perfumes there unto the pious and just, for whom paradise and the tree of life are prepared as an eternal inheritance (compare "Secrets of Enoch," and the somewhat obscure passage in 8:5d-6). In chaps. - Enoch (Meṭaṭron) gives Ishmael a description of the chariot and of the many-eyed, radiant, God-praising Ofanim and Seraphim (compare ib. 20:1, 21:1), the latter of which burn the accusations against Israel, which Satan, in conspiracy with the guardian angel of Rome and the guardian angel of Persia, continually sends in. In chap. he describes the archangel Radveri'el, the heavenly registrar and keeper of the archives (compare ib. 22:11 et seq.); in -, the "Irin and Kaddishin," who daily sit in judgment with God; in -, the judgment itself; in - he tells how the heavenly hosts pass into the presence of God to praise and glorify Him with the song, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Ẓebaot!" and how, at that, the Ofanim, Cherubim, Ḥayyot, and Seraphim standing around the throne prostrate themselves in adoration, responding with, "Praised be the glory of His Kingdom forever!" (compare ib. 20:3b-21:1).

In chaps. - Enoch (Meṭaṭron) reveals to Ishmael the mysteries of creation, and shows him the repositories of the rain, snow, hail, thunder, and lightning; the courses of the stars; the spirits of those angels who were punished because they did not give praise to God at the right time, and whose bodies were turned to great fiery mountains (in striking analogy to Ethiopic Enoch, 18:11-16, ); the souls of the righteous departed, who hover around God's throne in the form of birds, and the souls of the righteous yet unborn; the places of punishment and the tortures of the wicked in hell (compare "Secrets of Enoch," ). Then Ishmael sees how the souls of the Patriarchs and of all the righteous ascend out of their graves to heaven, beseeching God to deliver His people Israel from their bondage among the heathen. God answers them that the sins of the wicked hold back the delivery of His people and the realization of His kingdom. While the Patriarchs are weeping at this declaration, Michael, Israel's guardian angel, intervenes, pleading for Israel's delivery. Thereupon Meṭaṭron lets Ishmael survey all past and future ages from Adam to the end of time: he sees Messiah b. Joseph and his age, and Messiah b. David and his age, together with the wars of Gog and Magog and the other events of the Messianic era. In the concluding chapter (), Meṭaṭron shows Ishmael the glorious future Jerusalem, where the souls of the righteous stand praying for its advent upon earth. At the same moment God's right hand pours forth five streams of tears which, falling into the ocean, cause the world to shake; and God avers, that, although there is no righteous man upon earth whose intercession could bring about Israel's delivery, yet He will save them for His own sake, for the sake of His justice and His own goodness. God prepares Himself to reveal His mighty power to the heathen; whereupon Israel will be immediately delivered and the Messiah will appear to them, in order to conduct them to Jerusalem, where they, to the exclusion of the tyrannical heathen, will share his kingdom, and God will be king over the whole earth.

Date of Composition.

Apart from the fact that R. Ishmael, of the period of the Hadrianic persecution, figures as the author, and from the allusion in the last chapter to the destruction of the Temple (through which data the earliest date possible is fixed), there are no definite references to historical events and conditions from which the date of the composition of the "Book of Enoch" could be more exactly determined. There is, however, a passage in Talmud Berakot about R. Ishmael which naturally suggests itself in this connection, and which admits of the adoption of at least a latest possible date. The passage (7a) reads:

Compare also the passage immediately preceding: "What does God pray? Raba says, 'May My mercy conquer My anger, and may My mercy gush forth as is the way of mercy, and may I deal with My children according to My mercy, and requite them, though contrary to the rigid rules of the Law.'" The parallel is obvious. The passages quoted compel the conclusion that the Hebrew Book of Enoch can not have been written later than the time of the completion of the Babylonian Talmud.

2.

An apocalyptic fragment, in which R. Ishmael likewise figures as the author, is preserved in the "Siddur" of R. Amram Gaon (of the second half of the ninth century), 3b, 12b-13a. It is also contained in one of the recensions of the "Legend of the Ten Martyrs" (Jellinek, in "B. H." 6:19-30), where, however, it does not fit in naturally, and is, therefore, to be considered as a later insertion. Gerson b. Asher Scarmela first printed it in "Yiḥus ha-Ẓaddikim," which appeared in Mantua in 1561, but with additions at the beginning and at the end, which additions in different versions are all to be found in the various recensions of the "Legend of the Ten Martyrs," and are contained in part also in chaps. - of the "Hekalot Rabbati." These portions bear evidence of being later additions in the fact that the last of those at the end treats of the preparations which, in the legend, preceded Ishmael's ascension, but which, in the context here, would seem to be events following his return from heaven. On account of the relationship of these additions to chaps. - of the "Hekalot Rabbati," Jellinek published them together with the fragment as "Hekalot-Zusätze" in "B. H." 5:167-169. Gaster gives a translation of the fragment in the "Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society," 1893, pp. 609 et seq.

In this fragment R. Ishmael relates that Ssngir, one of the chief angels, revealed to him the sufferings reserved for Israel; and when he expressed wonder that Israel could ever endure these, the angel showed him still greater sufferings in store—captivity, famine, and pillage. As Ishmael and the angel parted, the former heard a voice proclaiming in Aramaic:

Upon this announcement Ishmael fell to the ground unconscious, but was restored by another of the chief angels, of whom he then asked if there were no remedy for Israel. For answer the angel led him to the place where salvation and comfort were prepared; and Ishmael saw there groups of angels weaving garments of salvation for the righteous of the future world, and making magnificent crowns out of precious stones and pearls, perfumed with nectar and all sorts of fragrant odors, one of which crowns was of especial brilliance. The angel informed Ishmael that the crowns were intended for Israel, the especially magnificent one being for King David. Amid the roar of the motion of the heavens with their armies of stars, and all the hosts of angels, and amid the sound of a great mysterious rustling which proceeded from paradise, Ishmael heard: "YHWH reigns forever: thy God, O Zion, to all generations! Halleluiah!" Ishmael then saw David, king of Israel, approach, followed by all the kings of his dynasty, each one with a crown on his head; David's crown outshining all the others, its brilliance radiating to the ends of the earth. David went up to the heavenly Temple, placed himself upon the throne of fire prepared for him near God's throne, and presented his homage to God in hymns of praise, proclaiming the eternal duration of His kingdom. Meṭaṭron with his angel-hosts, heaven and earth, and, last of all, the kings of the house of David, joined in the shout of praise: "YHWH will be king over the whole earth; on that day YHWH will be One and His name One!"

The Messianic doctrine in this fragment, in which David figures as the Messiah, is unique, not only as far as the Neo-Hebrew, but as far as apocalyptic in general is concerned. It compels the conclusion that this fragment is distinct from the "Book of Enoch" (treated above) as the work of an altogether different author. Further, it indicates a very early origin, which is fully confirmed by the "prophecy after the event"; the Ishmael in this apocalypse too can only be the rabbi Ishmael, extolled in legend as a martyr of the Hadrianic persecution. Hence the date of composition must fall after the destruction of the Temple; and the only event which can come into consideration as making such a prophecy comprehensible is the disastrous termination of the reign of Bar Kokba. At that juncture the conditions and events furnished a basis for the "prophecy after the event" contained in the apocalypse under consideration: that the Temple would be profaned and destroyed, the royal palace demolished, Jerusalem turned into a desert, and the whole land of Israel rendered desolate. Indeed the fragment reads as if it were written under the immediate impression of the Hadrianic persecution. It seems plausible that this book was the intermediary through which the peculiar metamorphosis of the "Secrets of Enoch," into the Neo-Hebrew Book of Enoch, was accomplished.

3. The Ascension of Moses:

Ascension of Moses.

The Latin version of "The Assumption of Moses," which is preserved only as a fragment, must certainly have contained, in its missing part, an account of the death of Moses and of the dispute between the archangel Michael and Satan (or the angel of death) over the dead body. Among the Neo-Hebrew apocalypses there is an "Ascension of Moses," as well as a fragment which, besides revealing the future, tells of the death of Moses and of the dispute that ensued after his death. This apocalypse was published for the first time in Salonica in 1727, under the title

Hell and Paradise.

God then tells Moses that He will confer on him the further privilege of seeing hell and paradise, and, at God's command, the angel Gabriel conducts Moses to hell. There he sees the manifold torments and punishments of the different classes of sinners, those who were envious of their fellow men and bore false witness against them; women who exposed their charms to young men; sinners who committed adultery, theft, and murder; those who perjured themselves; those who desecrated the Sabbath, despised the learned, and persecuted orphans; those who committed sodomy and idolatry, or cursed their parents; those who took bribes, put their fellow men to shame, delivered up their brother-Israelite to the Gentile, and denied the oral law; those that ate all kinds of forbidden food; usurers; apostates, and blasphemers; those who wrote the ineffable name of God, and those who ate on Yom Kippur. Gabriel then leads Moses into paradise. Here he sees first the guardian angel of paradise, sitting under the tree of life, who shows him the several costly thrones erected in paradise, each surrounded by seventy angels—the thrones for the Patriarchs, for the scholars who studied the Law day and night for the sake of heaven; for the pious men, for the just, and for the repentant—and a throne of copper, prepared for the wicked whose sons are pious, as in the case of Terah. Finally, he sees the fountain of life welling forth from beneath the tree of life, and dividing itself into four streams, and four rivers flowing under each throne, "the first of honey, the second of milk, the third of wine, and the fourth of pure balsam." (Here another passage from the Zohar, interrupting the narrative, is inserted.) As Moses is leaving paradise a voice calls from heaven: "Moses, . . . as thou hast seen the reward which is prepared for the just in the future world, so also in the days to come shalt thou see the rebuilding of the Temple and the advent of the Messiah, and shalt behold the beauty of the Lord and shalt meditate in His Temple."

Up to the present no attempt has been made to ascertain the date of composition of this apocalypse; but the allusion in the last chapter to the rebuilding of the Temple places it after that event. The descriptions of the different classes of sinners in hell and their punishment are strikingly similar to (in fact, are in parts identical with) those found in a number of Christian apocalypses; namely, the "Apocalypse of Peter," that of "Pastor Hermas," and the second book of the "Sibylline Oracles" (all three written in the second century), and the later apocalypses of Esdras and Paul, both perhaps dependent upon the "Apocalypse of Peter." It is possible that a critical examination of these relations might throw further light on the date of composition of "The Ascension of Moses."

4. The Assumption of Moses:

This is a fragment preserved in the "Midrash Bereshit Rabbati" of R. Moses ha-Darshan (a manuscript in the library of the Jewish congregation in Prague), which was published by Jellinek in "B. H." § 22. It is intended as an exegesis to Genesis 28:17b. The following is a synopsis of its contents:

As the time for Moses' death approached, God permitted him to ascend into heaven, and unveiledto him the future world. There Middat ha-Raḥamim (the Attribute of Mercy) came to him, saying: "I will announce good tidings." Turning his eyes to the throne of mercy, Moses saw God building the Temple out of precious stones and pearls; he saw also the rays of the Godhead, and Messiah the son of David with the Torah in his arms; also his own brother Aaron in priestly robes. Aaron imparted to Moses that his death was near at hand, whereupon Moses asked God for permission to speak with the Messiah. The latter then revealed to him that the sanctuary which God was then constructing was the Temple and the Jerusalem, which would be established for Israel in the future world to endure for all eternity, and that God had shown the same Jerusalem to Jacob in his dream in Beth-el. To Moses' question when the new Jerusalem would descend to earth, God replied: "I have not yet revealed the end to any one; should I reveal it to thee?" Thereupon Moses said, "Give me at least a hint from the events of history," and God answered: "After I have scattered Israel among all the nations, I will stretch out My hand to gather them in a second time from all the ends of the earth." Moses then joyfully departed from heaven, followed by the angel of death, who demanded his soul. Moses refused to yield it; but finally God appeared to him, and he surrendered his soul to God willingly and cheerfully.

5. The Revelation of R. Joshua b. Levi:

It has already been noted that the Babylonian Talmud tells of revelations which R. Joshua b. Levi was supposed to have received from the prophet Elijah and from the Messiah. In this apocalypse R. Joshua himself figures as the author. The book first appeared in the collection "Liḳḳutim Shonim," published in 1519 at Constantinople, under the title

Contents of "Revelation."

As the time of R. Joshua b. Levi's death was drawing near, God sent the angel of death to him, commissioning him to fulfil whatever R. Joshua might wish. The latter requested to be shown the place awaiting him in paradise, and desired the angel to give his sword to him. Upon arriving in paradise, Joshua, against the will of the angel, leaped over the wall: God allowed him to remain there, but commanded him to return the sword. Elijah called out: "Make way for the son of Levi!" The angel of death thereupon related the incident to R. Gamaliel, who sent him back to R. Joshua with the request that he explore both paradise and hell and send him a description of them. R. Joshua carried out this request. Here follows a description of the different compartments of paradise, seven in number. In the first dwell the proselytes to Judaism; in the second, repentant sinners with King Manasseh presiding over them; in the third, the Patriarchs and the Israelites who came out of Egypt, David and Solomon, and all the kings of their house; in the fourth, the perfectly righteous. In the fifth, which is of special splendor and exquisite beauty, are the Messiah and Elijah, the latter caressing the Messiah and saying to him, "Be comforted, for the end draweth nigh!" The Patriarchs also speak in the same strain at certain times, as do Moses and Aaron, David and Solomon, and all the kings of Israel and Judah. In the sixth, dwell those who died in piety; and in the seventh, those who died for the sins of Israel.

To his question, whether any of the heathen, or even any of his brother Esau's descendants, were in paradise, R. Joshua received the answer, that they obtained the reward for their good works in this world, and therefore in the other world must dwell in hell; in the case of the sinners in Israel, however, just the opposite principle is followed. Hell could not be viewed immediately, for just at that moment the news reached heaven of the execution of the Ten Martyrs.

When R. Joshua entered hell some time later, he saw there ten heathen nations, over whom, as a punishment for his disobedience to his father, Absalom, the son of David, is compelled to preside. Seven times a day these heathen are burned by angels in pits of fire, being brought out whole again every time. Absalom alone is excepted from this punishment: he sits upon a throne, honored as a king.

6. The Alphabets of R. Akiba (

Theme of the Alphabets.

comprise a number of writings treating the same theme. The chief center of thought of all of them is the mystical signification, already mentioned in the Talmud, of the letters of the alphabet and of their written forms, and the mysteries of the names of God made up of four, twelve, and forty-two letters. In the Jerusalem Talmud (Ḥag. 2:77c) there is a dissertation on the letters by means of which the world was created; and there, as in these writings, it is stated that the present world was created with He (ה) and the future with Yod (י), and eschatological theories are built up out of the forms of these letters. In the Babylonian Talmud (Shab. 104a), also, all sorts of similar interpretations are given in regard to the names, forms, and combinations of the various letters, and are made to bear upon eschatological questions in the same way as in these apocalypses. In Ḳid. 71a, it is said that the mysteries of the three names of God were treated as esoteric doctrine, and that whoever became thoroughly initiated into the mystery of the name consisting of forty-two letters might be sure of inheriting both the present and the future world. Similarly, R. Akiba, the reputed author of the "Alphabets," is especially commended in the Talmud as interpreter of the strokes, dots, and flourishes of the letters (compare, for example, Men. 29b; also Akiba ben Joseph). Up to the present time, the pseudepigrapha in question have been generally considered mystical writings treating upon some eschatological points, not as real apocalypses; but the different compositions, as far as they are known, show clearly that the real theme of all is the eschatological problem, and that the discussion of the other supernatural mysteries only goes hand in hand with this, as in the apocalypses hitherto noticed.

So far, two of the alphabets have appeared in print, one of which is three times as long as the other: the longer was published first in Constantinople, 1519 (in the above-mentioned collection), and again in Venice, 1546. Both editions are incomplete; but the gaps are filled in part by the Cracow edition, which was published in 1579, was reprinted in Amsterdam, 1708, and which contains also the shorter version. Jellinek published both in "B. H." 3:12-49,50-64; the longer, based on the incomplete Constantinople-Venice edition. Several manuscripts of both have been preserved; as, for example, in the Munich Codex 22, folio 70-103, which supplies the gaps purposely left in the longer composition in the Cracow-Amsterdam edition; in the Vatican Codex, 228, 3 (see Wolf, "Bibl. Hebr." 2:1258, and Steinschneider, "Hebr. Bibl." 14:7); and one manuscript in the Bodleian Library which is described in Neubauer, "Cat. Bodl. Hebr. MSS." No. 1927 (of this no exact information is given, but according to the number of its pages, it is probably the shorter alphabet). A fragment of the shorter is contained in the Bodleian Library manuscript, No. 1322 (Neubauer, ib.). There are, besides, three other manuscripts in the Bodleian Library containing alphabets of R. Akiba (compare ib. Nos. 1104, 3; 2287, 11; 2289, 7). The catalogue does not give any details of their contents; but the fact that none of them is marked "printed" would indicate that they are not identical with the published "Alphabets." A fragment consisting of two leaves

This fragment originated in the Orient, as is shown by the words "the calendar of the Gentiles," which signify "dating from the Hegira"; more exactly, it may be inferred from the concluding words which quote a Persian expression, that it originated in Persia.

Jellinek's distinction of the two published alphabets as "First Recension" and "Second Recension" ("B. H." , pp. et seq.; , pp. et seq.) is misleading; for in respect not only of the length but also of the contents, they differ so radically that they must be considered as altogether distinct and independent of each other. In the longer of the published alphabets, as in the Hebrew Book of Enoch, Meṭaṭron (Enoch) is represented as the revealer of the secrets disclosed in these writings. There is also a very brief and condensed narration of Enoch's assumption into heav