Hekhalot Literature in Translation: Major Texts of Merkavah Mysticism

452 Pages·2013·2.42 MB·English

by  James Davila

Hekhalot Literature in Translation
Supplements to The Journal of
Jewish Thought and Philosophy
Editedby
ElliotR.Wolfson(NewYorkUniversity)
ChristianWiese(UniversityofFrankfurt)
HartwigWiedebach(UniversityofZurich)
VOLUME20
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.com/sjjt
Hekhalot Literature
in Translation
Major Texts of Merkavah Mysticism
By
JamesR.Davila
LEIDEN•BOSTON
2013
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Davila,JamesR.,1960-
Hekhalotliteratureintranslation:majortextsofMerkavahmysticism/byJamesR.Davila.
p.cm.–pagescm.–(SupplementstotheJournalofJewishthoughtandphilosophy,ISSN
1873-9008;volume20)
Includesindex.
ISBN978-90-04-25215-8(hardback:alk.paper)–ISBN978-90-04-25216-5(e-book)1.Hekhalot
literature–Historyandcriticism.2.Merkava.3.Mysticism–Judaism.4.Heikhalotrabbati.5.Heikhalot
zutrati.6.Ma'asehmerkavah.7.Kitve-yadha-Genizah.8.CairoGenizah.I.Title.
BM525.A2D382013
296.1–dc23
2013009766
Thispublicationhasbeentypesetinthemultilingual“Brill”typeface.Withover5,100characters
coveringLatin,IPA,Greek,andCyrillic,thistypefaceisespeciallysuitableforuseinthehumanities.
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ISSN1873-9008
ISBN978-90-04-25215-8(hardback)
ISBN978-90-04-25216-5(e-book)
Copyright2013byKoninklijkeBrillNV,Leiden,TheNetherlands.
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements..................................................... vii
1. Introduction ......................................................... 1
2. HekhalotRabbati:TheGreater(BookoftheHeavenly)Palaces...... 37
Introduction ......................................................... 37
Text .................................................................. 51
3. SarTorah:ThePrinceofTorah....................................... 159
Introduction ......................................................... 159
Text .................................................................. 169
4. HekhalotZutarti:TheLesser(BookoftheHeavenly)Palaces ........ 187
Introduction ......................................................... 187
Text .................................................................. 199
5. Ma#asehMerkavah:TheWorkingoftheChariot ..................... 245
Introduction ......................................................... 245
Text .................................................................. 253
6. MerkavahRabba:TheGreat(Bookofthe)Chariot................... 301
Introduction ......................................................... 301
Text .................................................................. 311
7. SomeShorterMacroforms........................................... 341
Introduction ......................................................... 341
Text .................................................................. 349
8. GenizaFragments ................................................... 371
Introduction ......................................................... 371
Text .................................................................. 381
Indices
IndexofModernAuthors............................................ 421
IndexofForeignWordsandPhrases................................. 424
IndexofPrimarySources ............................................ 429

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Theproductionofthistranslationhasbeenalong-termproject,extending,
with stops and starts, over more than twenty years. I am grateful to the
followingfortheirhelpandsupport.CentralCollegeinPella,Iowa,provided
aresearchanddevelopmentgrantin1992whichallowedforthepurchase
ofbooksthatmadethisonepossible.TheBibliotecaMediceoLaurenziana
andtheRijksUniversiteitLeidenkindlygrantedpermission,respectively,for
metopublishmaterialfrommanuscriptsFlorenceLaurentzianaPlut.44/13
andLeidenOr.4730.Microfilmcopiesofthemanuscriptswereprovidedby
theInstituteofMicrofilmedHebrewManuscriptsoftheJewishNationaland
UniversityLibraryinJerusalem.Usecopiesofmicrofilmsofthemanuscripts
werealsolenttomeearlierbytheAncientBiblicalManuscriptCenterin
Claremont.TheUniversityofSt.Andrewsprovidedmewithasemesterof
researchleavein2008,followedbyayearofresearchleavein2011–2012
duringwhichIwasabletofinishtheproject.Passagesfromthistranslation
haveappearedinmyarticle“4QMessar(4Q534)andMerkavahMysticism,”
DeadSeaDiscoveries5(1998):367–381;inmybookDescenderstotheChariot:
ThePeopleBehindtheHekhalotLiterature (Brill, 2001); and in my article
“Melchizedek,the‘Youth,’andJesus,”pp.248–274inTheDeadSeaScrolls
asBackgroundtoPostbiblicalJudaismandEarlyChristianity:Papersfroman
InternationalConferenceatSt.Andrewsin2001(ed.JamesR.Davila;Brill,
2003). The reprinted material has been heavily revised and is presented
hereforthefirsttimewithafullcriticalapparatus.IamgratefultoBrill
for permission to republish the earlier material. The Divinity School of
the University of St. Andrews paid for the preparation of the indices for
thisvolume,whichwereproducedbyMr.GarrickAllen.Brill’sproduction
editor,MichaelMozina,andhisteamhandledtheverycomplexanddifficult
manuscriptofthisbookwithmeticulouscareandcaughtmanysmallerrors
duringitstypesetting.Anyerrorsofanykindthatremainaremyresponsibility
alone.
Thisbookisdedicatedtomyson,TedDavila,andtothememoryofmy
mother,LoisA.Davila.
St.Andrews
28March2013

chapterone
INTRODUCTION
1.TheHekhalotLiterature
TheHekhalotliteratureisamotleycollectionoftextuallyfluidandoften
textually corrupt documents in Hebrew and Aramaic which deal with
mysticalthemesassociatedespeciallywithvisionsofGod’sthrone-chariot
(the merkavah or “chariot,” hence “Merkavah mysticism”), control over
angels, and detailed descriptions of the heavenly realm.1 The texts are
rambling and often incoherent. Each paragraph is normally attributed
(pseudepigraphically)toaTannaiticrabbi,almostalwaysR.Akiva,R.Ishmael,
orR.NehuniahbenHaQanah.2Broadlyspeaking,theHekhalotliterature
focusesontwomainthemes.Thefirstishowapractitionermayascend
(or, frequently and paradoxically, “descend”3) to heaven in order to be
transformed,atleasttemporarily,intoabeingoffire;tojoinintheangelic
liturgyinthedivinethroneroom;andtositenthroned,sometimesonGod’s
lap,andbegrantedtheurgicpower.Thesecondishowthepractitionermay
gaincontroloverangels,especiallytheSarTorahorPrinceofTorahwho
cangrantexpertiseinrabbinicTorahlorewithouttheneedforthenormal
arduousstudy.
These texts are filled with descriptions of the seven-tiered heaven
that contains seven hekhalot (“palaces,” hence, “Hekhalot literature”),
1 ForbasicorientationtotheHekhalotliteratureseePeterSchäfer,TheHiddenand
ManifestGodandJamesR.Davila,DescenderstotheChariot,chapter1.Forreservations
abouttheuseoftheterm“mysticism”forthesetexts,seeibid.,chaptertwo,andSchäfer,
TheOriginsofJewishMysticism,chapterone.Ra#ananS.Boustanhasarecentdiscussionof
thecurrentstateofthequestioninHekhalotstudiesin“TheStudyofHeikhalotLiterature:
Between Mystical Experience and Textual Artifact.” The main editions of the texts are
Schäferetal.,SynopsezurHekhalot-LiteraturandSchäfer,GenizaFragmentezurHekhalot-
Literature.Allcitationsbelowaregivenaccordingtotheparagraphandtextnumberingin
theseeditions.
2 TheTannaimwerePalestinianJewishsagesfromthefirsttoearlythirdcenturiesce
whosesayingsarequotedintheMishnah.
3 Various explanations of this odd idiom have been proposed, none of them fully
convincing.SeeAnneliesKuyt,The“Descent”totheChariot;ChristopherR.A.Morray-Jones,
“TheTempleWithin,”esp.pp.171–178.