Guardians of the Gate: Angelic Vice Regency in Late Antiquity

195 Pages·1999·7.26 MB·English

by  Nathaniel Deutsch

BRILL'S SERIES
IN JEWISH STUDIES
GENERAL EDITOR
DAVIDS. KATZ (Tel Aviv)
ADVISORY EDITORS
STUART COHEN (Bar-llan)
ANTHONY T. GRAFTON (Princeton)
YOSEF KAPLAN Gerusalem)
FERGUS MILLAR (Oxford)
VOL. XXII

GUARDIANS OF THE GATE
ANGEUC VICE REGENCY IN LATE ANTIQUITY
BY
NATHANIEL DEUTSCH
BRILL
LEIDEN · BOSTON · KOLN
1999
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is also available.
Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme
Deutsch, Nathaniel:
Guardians of the gate : angelic vice regency in late antiquity I by
Nathaniel Deutsch.-Leiden; Boston; Koln: Brill, 1999
(BFill's series in jewish studies ; Vol. 22)
ISBN 9<Hl4-l 0909-9
ISSN 0926-2261
ISBN 90 04 I 0909 9
© Copyright 1999 by KoninJdijk£ Brill NV, .Leiden, The Netherlands
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For Yael and Damd

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements . . . . .. .......... .. . . ... . . .. ..... ... . ... ..... ..... .. .. . ... . .. . . ..... ... . IX
Preface ........................................................................................... x1
Chapter One Introduction ................................ ........................ 1
Mediation in Late Antiquity . .. . .. . ... . .... .. . .. . .. . . . .. . . . . .. . . .. .. . .. . . .. .. .. 5
Chapter Two Myth and Exegesis ............................................. 13
The Trickster: Shadow of the Vice Regent .......................... 16
Mythopoetic Exegesis .............................................................. 23
Chapter Three In Praise of Metatron ............... ...... ........... ........ 2 7
Metatron as Divine Man . . ... . . ...... .. . .. . .. . .. .. . ... . . .. .. . .. . . . .. . .. ... ...... 28
Metatron as Divine Angel . .. . ... . .. . .. ... .. ... . .. .. . . .... .... .. . .. . ... . ........ 35
Chapter Four The Fall of Metatron ......................................... 48
Chapter Five Abathur's Lament ............................................... 78
Abathur as Creative Light being ............................................ 83
Abathur's Dethronement ........................................................ 85
Abathur as Priest ... . . .. ... . .. . . . . . .. ... .. ...... .. . .. . .. . . .. ... . ..... .. . .. . .. .. . . . .... 88
Abathur and Metatron............................................................. 93
Hypostatic Traditions .............................................................. 99
Abathur of the Scales ............................................................. l 07
Abathur and the Heavenly Waters ........................................ 111
Chapter Six Sabaoth's Rehabilitation .......... ...... .................... 124
Chapter Seven Conclusion . . . .. .. .. . . .. . ... . .. ... ..... .. . . . .. . . . .. .. . . .. . . .. .. . .. . . . 141
Appendix A Jesus .................................................................... 151
Appendix B al:Jili's "Perfect Man" ........................................ 158
Appendix C Hermes ................................................................ 164
Select Bibliography ....................................................................... 169
Index ............................................................................................. 177

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank my mother and father for their devotion, sac
rifice, and love. Without them, this book would not have been pos
sible. I would also like to thank the rest of my family and friends for
their support. Both Sarah and Miriam deserve props for helping me
to complete this project. My students, teachers, and colleagues have
all helped me along the way. In particular, I would like to thank my
fellow professors in the Department of Religion at Swarthmore
College: Yvonne Chireau, Jerry Frost, Steven Hopkins, Vera
Moreen, Ellen Ross, Don Swearer, and Mark Wallace. A number of
institutions have provided financial assistance during dilferent stages
of research and writing. Thank you to the Memorial Foundation of
Jewish Culture and the National Foundation of Jewish Culture for
providing grants which helped me to complete this work. SUNY
Press allowed me to re-print material from an earlier piece:
"Abathur: A New Etymology," in]. Collins and M. Fishbane, eds.,
Death, Ecstasy, and Other Worldfy Joumrys, Albany, 1995. I have also
benefitted from the expertise of a number of colleagues who com
mented on papers I delivered or who discussed my work in private
conversations and correspondence, including April De Conick,
David Halperin, Moshe Idel, and Christopher Morray-Jones. I
would especially like to thank Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley for her
encouragement and guidance in the area of Mandaean studies.
Finally, my deep gratitude goes to the following scholars who read
sections of the manuscript, providing helpful comments and criti
cism; of course, any errors which remain arec entirely my own:
Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley, John]. Collins, Arthur Droge, Michael
Fish bane, and Elliot Wolfson.