HEBREW VISIONS OF HELL AND PARADISE
ART XV.
By M[oses]. GASTER, Ph.D. [1856-1939]
______
JOURNAL
OF
THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY.
[London, The Royal Asiatic Society]
[1893]
{Scanned and edited by Christopher M. Weimer, April 2002}
______
[[@Page: 571]]
THE recent recovery of the Revelation of St. Peter has again attracted attention to this branch of apocalyptic literature. Speculation has been rife as to the sources of that Revelation.
I intend publishing now, for the first time in English garb, the oldest extant Revelations which must have served as source to that of Peter, then to that of Paul, Ezra, Abraham, Isaiah, Virgin Mary, St. Macarius, and the host of others down to Dante and St. Patrick.
It is not here the place to enter into a more minute disquisition of the history of these visions. We find parallels in the old Ægyptian literature, in the Assyrian we have the well-known "Descensus ad inferos" of Izdubar (Nimrud). The Buddhist literature knows the Suh.rllekha, the letter of Nâgârjuna to King Udayana. In the Avesta literature we have the Nameh of Arda-viraf; in the Mahommedan we have the vision of Mahommed. All these Christian Revelations and of the others, at any rate the last two, are based directly upon those Hebrew visions, a fact which has hitherto not been noticed.
I reserve for a book, which I am writing, the fuller discussion of these points, and the study of the internal connection between these apocalyptic visions.
It would be bold to speculate on the relative age of each of the visions which I publish here. They all go back to the pre-Christian age, as is shown by the existence of those Christian visions almost verbally identical with the Hebrew. On the other hand one cannot doubt that they underwent some changes in the course of the ages. The substance [[@Page:572]] remained intact, but many passages were interpolated or omitted. The different texts complement thus each other to assist us to arrive at a probable common source. The tendency of all these popular writings is to grow in the course of time, to attract and to assimilate various elements. We can see this process very clearly in the Revelation of Moses, which has been hitherto almost unknown. It has nothing in common with those known under that title. We have two recensions of it. A shorter one, and a longer which is more amplified and contains interpolations taken from the Zohar and the Talmud. Whether the biblical passages belonged originally to these visions is still a matter of doubt. They may have been tacked on to the narrative as a kind of scriptural proof, or they may stand as the beginning of a series of details and pictures which have been evolved out of them, by a rather fantastical exegesis, but by no means uncommon in the Oriental literature.
To each text I have added a full bibliography, and parallels from most of the extant apocryphal revelations. I have striven to be as literal as possible. The attempt to obliterate the Oriental touch by a polished translation, robs the text of its originality and local colour, which ought to be preserved.
I. THE REVELATION OF MOSES. (A.)
Heaven, Hell, and Paradise.
(Gedulath Mosheh, Amsterdam, 1854, v. Jellinek, Beth-hammidrash, II. pp. x., xiv. ff., and xix-xx.)
1. [As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons (Song of Songs, ii. 3). (This applies to Moses, upon whom be peace.)]
2. In that hour when God said unto him: "Go and bring out the children of Israel from Egypt, for I have heard their groaning, and I remembered the covenant, and the oath I swore to Abraham my [[@Page:573]]servant." Moses said: "O Lord of the Universe, who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" (Ex. iii. 11). God said: "Thou hast humbled thyself in saying 'Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?' but I will honour thee [as it is said: 'He that is of lowly spirit shall obtain honour' (Prov. xxix. 23)], and I will give the whole of Egypt into thy hands, and I will bring thee up even near to my throne of glory; and I will shew thee the angels of the Heaven." Thereupon God commanded Metatron, the angel of his presence (of the face), and said unto him: "Go and bring Moses with harps, and pipes, and drums, and dances, with joy, and songs, and praises."
3. And Metatron answered and said: "O Lord of the Universe, Moses is not able to come up and see the angels, for there are angels who are of fire and he is only of flesh and blood."
4. God said: "Go and change his flesh (body) into fire." And Metatron went to Moses.
5. When Moses beheld Metatron he trembled with fear, and said to him: "Who art thou?"
6. And he answered: "I am Enoch the son of Jared, thy father's father. The Almighty hath sent me to bring thee up to his throne of glory."[1]
7. Moses said: "I am only flesh and blood, and cannot look upon the angels." And Metatron changed Moses' tongue into a tongue of fire, and his eyes he made like the wheels of the heavenly chariot, and his power like unto that of the angels, and his tongue like a flame, and brought him up to heaven. 15,000 angels were on the right hand, and 15,000 on the left, Metatron and Moses in the middle. In this way was Moses carried up to heaven.[2]
[[@Page:574]]8. The first heaven to which Moses ascended corresponds to the first day of the week; there he saw the waters standing in lines. This heaven was full of windows, and at each window stood an angel. And Moses asked Metatron: "What are these windows?" and Metatron answered: "These windows are the window of prayer, the window of request, the window of supplication, the window of crying (tears), the window of joy, the window of satiation, the window of famine, the window of poverty, the window of riches, the window of war, the window of peace, the window of pregnancy, the window of birth, the window of the treasures of rain, the window of dew, the window of sin, the window of repentance, the window of smallness, the window of greatness, the window of death, the window of life, the window of disease among men, the window of disease among animals, the window of healing, the window of sickness, the window of health." And Moses saw great things past finding out, "yea marvellous things without number" (Job ix. 10).[3]
9. Moses ascended then the second heaven, which corresponds to the second day of the week. There he saw an angel whose name is X.[[4]His length is 300 parasangs and 50 myriads of angels stand before him; they are of fire and water, and their faces are directed towards the Shekina above; and all sing hymns, saying: "Great is the Lord and highly to be praised" (cxlv. 3).
10. And Moses asked Metatron and said: "Who are those?" He answered: "These are the angels who are placed over the clouds, the wind, and the rain; they go and fulfil the will of their Creator and return to their places and praise the Almighty."[[@Page: 575]] And Moses asked: "Why have they their faces turned towards the Shekina?" And Metatron answered: "From that day when God created them until to-day they have not been moved from their position."[5]
11. Moses went up to the third heaven, which corresponds to the third day of the week. There he saw an angel whose name is X. His length is a journey of 500 years. He has 70,000 heads, in each head 70,000 mouths, in each mouth 70,000 tongues, and in each tongue 70,000 dictions; before him stand 70,000 myriads of angels, all of white fire; they all praise and sing to God [and say: "Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and power," etc. (1 Chr. xxix. 11)].
12. Moses asked Metatron: "Who are these? and what is their name?" And he answered: "Their name is Erelim; they are placed over the grass (herbs), and over the trees, and over the fruits, and over the corn; and they all go and fulfil the will of their Creator and return to their places."
13. Moses went up to the fourth heaven. There he saw the temple built; the columns of red fire, the sides of green fire, the thresholds of white fire, the hooks and the planks of blazing fire; the portals of carbuncle and the halls of sparkling gems. And he saw angels going therein praising (and saying) [as King David, upon whom may peace rest, said: "Bless the Lord, ye angels of His, ye mighty in strength, that fulfil his word" (Ps. ciii. 20)].[6]
14. Moses asked Metatron and said: "Who are these angels?" And Metatron answered: "These are the angels, who are placed over the earth, and over the sun, and over the moon, and over the stars, and over the planets, and over the spheres, and ever sing they hymns unto Him." And he saw two big stars, each
[[@Page:576]]of them as big as the whole earth; the name of one was Nogah, and the name of the other Maadim, one standing above the sun, and the other above the moon. Moses asked Metatron: "Why do these stand above those others?" And he said: "The one stands above the sun in summer in order to cool the world from the heat of the sun, and that is the star Nogah; whilst the other stands near the moon in order to warm the world from the cold of the moon (and this is the star Maadim)."[7]
15. Moses went to the fifth heaven and he saw there troops of angels half of fire and half of snow, and the snow is above the fire without extinguishing it, for God makes peace between them [as it is said: "He maketh peace in his high places," Job xxv. 2], and all praise the Almighty.
16. And Moses asked Metatron: "What are these doing?" He said: "Since the day when God created them are they so." Moses asked: "What is their name?" and he answered: "These are the Erelim who are called Ishim [as it is said: 'Unto you, O Ishim (men), I call,' Prov. viii. 4; i.e.: I call you Ishim!]."
17. Moses went up to the sixth heaven, there he saw an angel whose length was 500 years' journey; his name was X., and he was wholly of hail (ice), and by him stood thousands and myriads of angels, without number, and all sung praises to the One who said and the world was created [as it is said: the heaven proclaim the glory of God (Ps. xix. 2)].[8]
18. Moses asked Metatron: "Who are these?" and he answered: "These are the Irin Kadishin, the holy watchers," (Daniel iv. 10-14).
19. Moses went up to the seventh heaven, and he saw an angel wholly of fire; and two angels, whose names were X. These were fastened with two chains of red [[@Page:577]] and dark fire; and each of them had the length of 500 parasangs.
20. Moses asked Metatron: "Who are these?" And he answered: "These are wrath and anger, and God created them during the six days of creation, that they should fulfil his will."[9]
21. Moses replied: "I am afraid of these angels, and I cannot look on them." Thereupon Metatron embraced Moses, placed him in his bosom and said: "O Moses, beloved of God, be not frightened nor dread thou aught." And Moses was immediately calmed.
22. After this Moses saw another angel, whose countenance was totally different from those of the other angels, for he was ugly and his height of 540 years' journey, and he was girded forty times around his waist. From the sole of the foot unto the head he was full of fiery eyes, and whosoever looked at him, fell down in dread.
23. And Moses asked Metatron: "Who is this?" He answered: "This is the angel of death, who takes the souls of men."[10] And he asked him: "Where is he now going?" And Metatron answered: "He goes to take the soul of Job the pious."
24. And Moses said before God: "May it be thy will, O Lord, my God and God of my fathers, that thou shouldst not deliver me into the hands of this angel!"
25. Then saw he angels standing before God; each of them having six wings. With twain wings they covered their faces, so that they might not look upon the Shekina. With the other twain wings they cover their feet, for they have the feet of a calf, and with the other twain wings they fly and praise God. The length of each wing is 500 years' journey, and the width from one end of the world [[@Page:578]]to the other. And Moses asked: "Who are these?" and Metatron answered: "These are the holy Creatures."[11]
26. [Our sages tell[12] that at the time when Nebuchadnezzar the impious said: "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High" (Isaiah xv. 14 {sic. Isaiah xiv. 14}), the Holy Spirit came forth and said: "O impious man! How many are the days of the years of thy life? Threescore and ten, or even by reason of strength, fourscore years" (Ps. xc. 10), and the distance from earth to heaven alone is 500 years, the thickness of the heaven again 500 years, and from the heaven Rakia to the heaven Shehakim 500 years, and its thickness 500 years, and from Shehakim to Zebul again 500 years, and its thickness 500 years, and from Zebul to Meon 500 years, and its thickness 500 years, and from Meon to Araboth 500 years, and its thickness 500 years, and the feet of the holy Creatures are equal to the whole; and their ankles are equal to the whole; and the wings of the creatures are like the whole, and their necks are like the whole, and their heads like the whole, and their horns like unto the whole, and upon them is the throne of glory which is equal to the whole. [It is like the terrible ice, Ezek. i. 22.] And there sits the King of Kings, the Holy, blessed be He exalted and high, and thou sayest: "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High! Woe unto thee, O impious man and woe unto thy soul, for thou shalt be brought down to the uttermost parts of the pit (cf. Isaiah xiv. 15) to the seven regions of hell to be punished for ever and ever."]
[[@Page:579]]27. And after that Moses saw an angel in the heaven called Araboth, i.e. the seventh heaven, and this angel was teaching the souls which were created by God at the time of the Creation and have been placed in paradise. The name of the angel was X. He teaches them in seventy languages in the college on high, and they answer: "Thus is the law of Moses given by tradition from Mount Sinai [as it is said Dina was set and the books were opened (Daniel vii. 10), and Dina is none other than this angel, who is the guardian angel of the Law and of wisdom." He has also another name, they call him Jefefiyah, for the name of the guardian angel of the Law is Iofiel].[13]
28. [(From the Zohar) R. Simeon, son of Johai, said: "At that time when Moses went up to heaven an angel sat before him and taught him 370 mysteries of the Law, Moses then said to God, 'I will not depart from here unless Thou wilt give me good gifts.'" God answered: "Moses, my servant, faithful in my house, I will give thee my Law wherein are good gifts, as it is written: 'For I gave thee a good gift' (Prov. iv. 2). Therein are also the commandments, positive and negative, and not only this (I grant thee) but also that the Law shall be recorded in thy name, as it is written: 'Remember ye the Law of Moses, my servant' (Malachi iii. 22)." Whence do we know that Moses did actually ascend seven heavens? We learn it from the verse, "And Moses ascended to God." (It is further written, "God went up amidst the sounds of trumpets") (Ps. xlvii. 6). Moses is therefore called Elohim like unto his Master, for it is said: "See I have made thee as Elohim unto Pharaoh," therefore it is written: "Like an apple-tree in the wood is my beloved among the sons." This is Moses, master of the Prophets and servant of God; he is like an apple in odour and taste.]
[[@Page:580]]29. At that time a Bath-Kol came forth from underneath the throne of glory and said: "Moses, my servant! Art thou afraid of them?" [It is written: "A wise man scaleth the city of the mighty and bringeth down the strength of the confidence thereof" (Prov. xxi. 22). Strength means the Law as it is said: "God will give strength to his people" (Ps. xxix. 11).]
30. God said then to Moses: "Moses, my servant! Thou camest up here and hast been worthy of the privilege of seeing all with thy (earthly) power; and I have made thee ascend seven heavens, and have shown thee my treasures and I have given thee my law. Now thou shalt be worthy of seeing the two parks I have created in this world, one for the righteous and one for the sinners, viz. Paradise and Hell."