Merkabah mysticism
Merkabah (Hebrew: מֶרְכָּבָה, romanized: merkāḇā, lit. 'chariot')[1] or Merkavah mysticism[2] (lit. Chariot mysticism) is a school of early Jewish mysticism, c. 100 BCE – 1000 CE, centered on visions such as those found in Ezekiel 1 or in the hekhalot literature ("palaces" literature), concerning stories of ascents to the heavenly palaces and the Throne of God.
The main corpus of the Merkabah literature was composed in the period 200–700 CE, although later references to the Chariot tradition can also be found in the literature of the Ashkenazi Hasidim in the Middle Ages.[3] A major text in this tradition is the Maaseh Merkabah (Hebrew: מַעֲשֵׂה מֶרְכָּבָה, romanized: maʿśē merkāḇā, lit. 'Work of the Chariot').[4]
Etymology
The noun merkavah "thing to ride in, cart" is derived from the
However, when left untranslated, in English the Hebrew term merkavah relates to the throne-chariot of God in prophetic visions. It is most closely associated with the vision in Ezekiel 1 of the four-wheeled vehicle driven by four hayyot "living creatures", each of which has four wings[7] and the four faces of a man, lion, ox, and eagle (or vulture).
Ezekiel's vision of the chariot
According to the verses in Ezekiel and its attendant commentaries, his vision consists of a chariot made of many heavenly beings driven by the "Likeness of a Man". The base structure of the chariot is composed of four beings. These beings are called the "living creatures" (Hebrew: חיות hayyot or khayyot). The bodies of the creatures are "like that of a human being", but each of them has four faces, corresponding to the four directions the chariot can go (East, South, North and West). The faces are that of a man, a lion, an ox (later changed to a
The Bible later makes mention of a third type of angel found in the merkabah called "seraphim" (lit. "burning") angels. These angels appear like flashes of fire continuously ascending and descending. These seraphim angels power the movement of the chariot. In the hierarchy of these angels, hayyoth are the highest, that is, closest to God, followed by the ophanim, which are followed by the seraphim.[8] The chariot is in a constant state of motion, and the energy behind this movement runs according to this hierarchy. The movement of the ophanim is controlled by the "Living creatures", or Hayyot, while the movement of the hayyot is controlled by the seraphim. The movement of all the angels of the chariot is controlled by the "Likeness of a Man" on the Throne.
Early Jewish merkabah mysticism
Jewish mysticism |
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Mark Verman has distinguished four periods in early Jewish mysticism, developing from Isaiah's and Ezekiel's visions of the Throne/Chariot, to later extant merkabah mysticism texts:[9]
- 800–500 BCE, mystical elements in Prophetic Judaism such as Ezekiel's chariot
- Beginning c. 530s BCE, especially 300–100 BCE, Apocalyptic literature mysticism
- Beginning c. 100 BCE, especially 1–130s CE, early Rabbinic merkabah mysticism referred to briefly in exoteric Rabbinic literature such as the Pardes ascent; also related to early Christian mysticism
- c. 1–200 CE, continuing till c. 1000 CE, merkabah mystical ascent accounts in the esoteric merkabah-Hekhalot literature
Rabbinic commentary
The earliest Rabbinic merkabah commentaries were exegetical expositions of the prophetic visions of God in the heavens, and the divine retinue of angels, hosts, and heavenly creatures surrounding God. The earliest evidence suggests that merkabah homiletics did not give rise to ascent experiences—as one rabbinic sage states: "Many have expounded upon the merkabah without ever seeing it."[10]
One mention of the merkabah in the
Prohibition against study
The Talmudic interdictions concerning merkabah speculation are numerous and widely held. Discussions concerning the merkabah were limited to only the most worthy sages, and admonitory legends are preserved about the dangers of overzealous speculation concerning the merkabah.
For example, the secret doctrines might not be discussed in public: "Seek not out the things that are too hard for thee, neither search the things that are above thy strength. But what is commanded thee, think thereupon with reverence; for it is not needful for thee to see with thine eyes the things that are in secret."[12] It must be studied only by exemplary scholars: "Ma'aseh Bereshit must not be explained before two, nor Ma'aseh Merkabah before one, unless he be wise and understands it by himself."[13] Further commentary notes that the chapter-headings of Ma'aseh Merkabah may be taught, as was done by Rabbi Ḥiyya. According to Yer. Hagigah ii. 1, the teacher read the headings of the chapters, after which, subject to the approval of the teacher, the pupil read to the end of the chapter,[14] although Rabbi Zera said that even the chapter-headings might be communicated only to a person who was head of a school and was cautious in temperament.[15]
According to
Jewish development
Beyond the rabbinic community, Jewish apocalyptists also engaged in visionary exegeses concerning the divine realm and the divine creatures which are remarkably similar to the rabbinic material. A small number of texts unearthed at Qumran indicate that the Dead Sea community also engaged in merkabah exegesis. Recently uncovered Jewish mystical texts also evidence a deep affinity with the rabbinic merkabah homilies.
The merkabah homilies eventually consisted of detailed descriptions of multiple layered heavens (usually
When these images were combined with an actual mystical experiential motif of individual ascent (paradoxically called "descent" in most texts, Yordei Merkabah, "descenders of the chariot", perhaps describing inward contemplation) and union is not precisely known. By inference, contemporary historians of Jewish mysticism usually date this development to the third century CE. Again, there is a significant dispute among historians over whether these ascent and unitive themes were the result of some foreign, usually
Maaseh Merkabah
Maaseh Merkabah (Work of the Chariot) is the modern name given to a
Several movements in Jewish mysticism and, later, students of the Kabbalah have focused on these passages from Ezekiel, seeking underlying meaning and the secrets of
Due to the concern of some
Jews customarily read the Biblical passages concerning the merkabah in the
Hekhalot literature
The main interests of
In their visions, these mystics would enter into the celestial realms and journey through the seven stages of mystical ascent: the
This heavenly ascent is accomplished by the recital of
This is His great name, with which
divided the great sea:.בשובר ירברב סגי בדסיקין מרא סחטי בר סאיי לבים
This is His great name which turned the waters into high walls:
אנסיהגמן לכסם נעלם סוסיאל ושברים מרוב און אר אסמוריאל סחריש
בי?ו אנמם כהה יהאל.[19]
At times, heavenly interlocutors will reveal divine secrets. In some texts, the mystic's interest extends to the heavenly music and liturgy, usually connected with the angelic adorations mentioned in Isaiah 6:3. The
Literary works related to the Hekhalot tradition that have survived in whole or in part include Hekhalot Rabbati (or Pirkei Hekhalot), Hekhalot Zutarti, 3rd Enoch (also known as "Hebrew Enoch"), and Maaseh Merkabah.[20] In addition there are many smaller and fragmentary manuscripts that seem to belong to this genre, but their exact relationship to Maaseh Merkabah mysticism and to each other is often not clear (Dennis, 2007, 199–120).
Key texts
The ascent texts are extant in four principal works, all redacted well after the third but certainly before the ninth century CE. They are:
- Hekhalot Zutartey ("The Lesser Palaces"), which details an ascent of Rabbi Akiva;
- Hekhalot Rabbati ("The Greater Palaces"), which details an ascent of Rabbi Ishmael;
- Maaseh Merkabah ("Work of the Chariot"), a collection of hymns recited by the "descenders" and heard during their ascent;
- Sepher Hekhalot ("Book of Palaces", also known as 3 Enoch), which recounts an ascent and divine transformation of the biblical figure Enoch into the archangel Metatron, as related by Rabbi Ishmael.
A fifth work provides a detailed description of the Creator as seen by the "descenders" at the climax of their ascent. This work, preserved in various forms, is called Shi'ur Qomah ("Measurement of the Body"), and is rooted in a mystical exegesis of the Song of Songs, a book reputedly venerated by Rabbi Akiva. The literal message of the work was repulsive to those who maintained God's incorporeality; Maimonides (d. 1204) wrote that the book should be erased and all mention of its existence deleted.
While throughout the era of merkabah mysticism the problem of creation was not of paramount importance, the treatise
Certain key concepts found in the Sefer Yetzirah, such as the "6 directions", are mentioned in the Talmud, and also the title of the book is referenced: yet scholars do not conclude that the versions of the Sefer Yetzirah that have been handed down today are identical to the book which the Talmud references.
Hekhalot literature and "Four Entered Pardes"
Moshe Idel,
By making use of the Rabbinically paradigmatic figures of Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Ishmael in their writings, the generators of the Hekhalot literature, quite arguably, seem to be attempting to show some sort of connection between their writings and the Chariot/Throne study and practice of the Rabbinic Movement in the decades immediately following upon the destruction of the Temple. However, in both the Jerusalem Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud the major players in this Chariot/Throne endeavor are, clearly, Rabbi Akiva and Elisha ben Abuyah who is referred to as "Akher". Neither Talmud presents Rabbi Ishmael as a player in merkabah study and practice.
In the long study on these matters contained in "'The Written' as the Vocation of Conceiving Jewishly" (McGinley, J W; 2006) the hypothesis is offered and defended that "Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha" (more often, simply "Rabbi Ishmael") is in fact a Rabbinically sanctioned cognomen for Elisha ben Abuyah who
Both Akiva and the "Ishmaelic Akher" traded upon the "two-thrones"/"two-powers"-in-Heaven motif in their respective merkabah-oriented undertakings. Akiva's version is memorialized in the Babylonian Gemara to tractate Hagigah at 14a-ii wherein Akiva puts forth the pairing of God and "
In the "four-entered-pardes" section of this portion of the Babylonian Gemara on tractate Hagigah, it is the figure of Akiva who seems to be lionized. For of the four he is the only one presented who ascended and descended "whole". The other three were broken, one way or another:
The merkabah in later Jewish interpretations
Maimonides' explanation
We have frequently mentioned in this treatise the principle of our Sages "not to discuss the Maaseh Merkabah even in the presence of one pupil, except he be wise and intelligent; and then only the headings of the chapters are to be given to him." We must, therefore, begin with teaching these subjects according to the capacity of the pupil, and on two conditions, first, that he be wise, i.e., that he should have successfully gone through the preliminary studies, and secondly that he be intelligent, talented, clear-headed, and of quick perception, that is, "have a mind of his own", as our Sages termed it.
— Guide for the Perplexed, ch. XXXIII
The Four Worlds of Kabbalah
The Four Worlds in Kabbalah |
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The Rabbinic Talmud compares Ezekiel and Isaiah's visions of God's Chariot-Throne, noticing that Ezekiel gives a lengthy account of details, while Isaiah is very brief. It gives an exoteric explanation for this; Isaiah prophesied in the era of Solomon's Temple, Ezekiel's vision took place in the exile of Babylonian captivity. Rava states in the Babylonian Talmud that although Ezekiel describes the appearance of the throne of God, this is not because he had seen more than Isaiah, but rather because the latter was more accustomed to such visions; for the relation of the two prophets is that of a courtier to a peasant, the latter of whom would always describe a royal court more floridly than the former, to whom such things would be familiar.[23] Ezekiel, like all prophets except Moses, has beheld only a blurred reflection of the divine majesty, just as a poor mirror reflects objects only imperfectly.[24]
The Kabbalistic account explains this difference in terms of the Four Worlds. All
The two visions also form the Kedushah Jewish daily liturgy:
We will sanctify Thy name in the world even as they sanctify it in the highest heavens, as it is written by the hand of Thy prophet: "And they (the Seraphim) called one unto the other and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory."
— Isaiah 6:3
Those over against them (the Hayyot) say, Blessed: "Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place."
— Ezekiel 3:12
And in Thy holy words it is written, saying: "The Lord shall reign forever, thy God, O Zion, unto all generations; Hallelujah."
— Psalm 146:10
According to the Kabbalistic explanation, the Seraphim ("burning" angels) in Beriah (divine understanding) realise their distance from the absolute divinity of Atziluth. Their call, "Holy", repeated three times, means removed or separated. This causes their "burning up" continual self-nullification, ascending to God and returning to their place. Their understanding realises instead that God's true purpose (glory) for creation is with lowly man. The lower Hayyot ("living" angels) in Yetzirah (divine emotions) say, "Blessed [etymologically in Kabbalah "drawing down" blessing] be the glory ... from His [distant-unknown to them] place" of Atziluth. Though lower than the Seraphim, their emotional self-awareness has a superior advantage of powerful desire. This causes them to be able to draw down divine vitality from a higher source, the supreme realm of Atziluth, to lower creation and man. In Ezekiel's vision, the Hayyot have a central role in the merkabah's channeling of the divine flow in creation.
Hasidic explanation
The four Hayyot angels represent the basic archetypes that God used to create the current nature of the world. Ophanim, which means "ways", are the ways these archetypes combine to create actual entities that exist in the world. For instance, in the basic elements of the world, the lion represents fire, the ox/earth, the man/water, and the eagle/air. However, in practice, everything in the world is some combination of all four, and the particular combination of each element that exist in each thing are its particular Ophanim or ways.
The 'man on the throne' in the vision of Ezekiel descriptively represents God, who is controlling everything that goes on in the world, and how all of the archetypes He set up should interact. The 'man on the throne', however, drives when the four angels connect their wings. This means that God will not be revealed to us by us looking at all four elements (for instance) as separate and independent entities. However, when one looks at the way that earth, wind, fire and water (for instance) which all oppose each other are able to work together and coexist in complete harmony in the world, this shows that there is really a higher power (God) telling these elements how to act.
This very lesson carries over to explain how the four basic groups of animals and the four basic archetypal philosophies and personalities reveal a higher, Godly source when one is able to read between the lines and see how these opposing forces can and do interact in harmony. A person should strive to be like a Merkaba, that is to say, he should realize all the different qualities, talents and inclinations he has (his angels). They may seem to contradict, but when one directs his life to a higher goal such as doing God's will he (the man on the chair driving the chariot) will see how they all can work together and even complement each other. Ultimately, we should strive to realize how all of the forces in the world, though they may seem to conflict, can unite when one knows how to use them all to fulfill a higher purpose; namely to serve God.
Christianity
According to Timo Eskola, early Christian theology and discourse was influenced by the Jewish merkabah tradition.[25] Similarly, Alan Segal and Daniel Boyarin regard Paul the Apostle's accounts of his conversion experience and his ascent to the heavens (2 Corinthians 12:2–4) as the earliest first person accounts we have of a merkabah mystic in Jewish or Christian literature. Timothy Churchill has argued that Paul's Damascus road encounter (e.g., Acts 9:1–9) does not fit the pattern of merkabah, but this experience is not described in Paul's letters, and Acts does not claim to be a first-person account.[26][27]
In Christianity, the man, lion, ox, and eagle are used as symbols for the
Warnings against children or "excitable persons" reading the Ezekiel story exist in some translations.[citation needed]
In popular culture
- Matthaeus Merian's illustration from "Icones Biblicae" depicting the Cherubim and the Ophanim is used in the 2009 film Knowing.
- In the 2019 novel by Richard Zimler, The Gospel According to Lazarus, Jesus (Yeshua ben Yosef) is characterized as a merkabah mystic and healer.
- In Shin Megami Tensei IV, Jonathan merges with the four archangels to summon Merkabah as the Chariot of God.
- In the Xenosaga series of video games, Proto Merkabah is the name of a large space station developed by Joachim Mizrahi.[29]
See also
Religion, philosophy, mysticism
- Maaseh Breishit and Maaseh Merkavah
- Bearers of the Throne
- Cherubim
- Elijah's chariot of fire
- Jewish angelic hierarchy
- Muraqaba
- Practical Kabbalah
- Quadriga
- Vimana
- Mandaeism
- Gnosticism
Ancient astronaut theories
Science fiction
- Contact (film)
- Knowing (film) (Matthäus Merian's "Chariot Vision")
- Project UFO (TV)
Other
- Ezekiel Airship
- "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel" (folk song based on the vision)
- Merkava an Israel Defense Forces main battle tank named after a more literal interpretation of the Hebrew word meaning "chariot"
References
- ^ "Klein Dictionary, מֶרְכָּבָה". Sefaria.
- OCLC 1120116712.
- ^ Orlov, Andrei A. (2007). "The Enoch Tradition". From Apocalypticism to Merkabah Mysticism: Studies in the Slavonic Pseudepigrapha. Supplements to the Journal for the study of Judaism. Vol. 114. Leiden: BRILL. p. 224.
However, as [Ithamar] Gruenwald notes, the main corpus of the Merkabah literature was composed in Israel in the period 200–700 CE. Some references to this tradition can be found also in the literature of German Hasidim (twelfth to thirteenth centuries CE) and medieval Kabbalistic writings (the Zohar).
- ^ Jacob Neusner (2005). Neusner on Judaism: Literature, p. 74: "When Eleazar finished the Works of the Chariot, Yohanan stood and kissed him on his head and said, Blessed is the Lord, God of Abraham. Jacob who gave to Abraham a son wise and knowing how to expound the glory of our father in heaven."
- ^ Brown; Driver; Briggs; Gesenius (1988). "Hebrew Lexicon entry for Merkabah". The Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2010-10-09.
- ^ Ezekiel 1 (JPS Hebrew/English)
- ^ Six wings in Isaiah's and John's visions (Isaiah 6:2 and Revelation 4:8)
- ^ "Mishneh Torah, Foundations of the Torah 2:7". Sefaria (in Hebrew).
- ^ Verman, The Books of Contemplation, p. 8; summarised by Sanford L. Drob in Kabbalistic Metaphors: Jewish Mystical Themes in Ancient and Modern Thought, Jason Aronson (2000) section of chapter 1, pp. 4–8
- ^ Tosefta Megillah 3 [4]:28.
- Babylonian Talmud, Sukkah28a.
- Sirach(iii. 21–22)
- ^ Hagigah ii. 1
- ^ Hagigah 13a
- ^ a b One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Ma'aseh Bereshit; Ma'aseh Merkabah". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography: - ^ The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic and Mysticism, Geoffrey W. Dennis (2007) Ma'aseh Merkavah: “Working of the Chariot.” The modern name given to a Hekhalot text, discovered by scholar Gershom ... Ma'asei-Bereshit: “The Workings of Creation.” Starting in antiquity, Jewish disciples of the esoteric have engaged ...
- ^ Elior, Rachel, Heikhalot Literature and Merkavah Tradition Ancient Jewish Mysticism and its Sources, Tel Aviv: Yediot Ahronot; Sifrei Hemed: 2004 (Hebrew).
- ^ Maimonides, in his "Thirteen Principles of Faith", emphasizes that God is not limited to any particular form, as this prophecy might seem to imply.
- ^ Christopher Rowland, The Mystery of God: Early Jewish Mysticism and the New Testament, p. 276
- ^ [1] Michael Swartz, Mystical Prayer in Ancient Judaism: An Analysis of Maʻaseh Merkava, Coronet Books Inc 1991
- ^ Wikisource. (in Hebrew) – via
- ^ a b c Angels 2: Wings on Fire, kabbalaonline.org
- ^ Hagigah 13b
- ^ Midrash Leviticus Rabbah i. 14, toward the end
- ^ Timo Eskola, Messiah and the Throne: Jewish Merkabah Mysticism and Early Exaltation Discourse Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck (2001).
- ^ Acts 1:1-2. See also Luke 1:1-4
- ^ Churchill, Timothy W. R. Divine Initiative and the Christology of the Damascus Road Encounter, Eugene: Pickwick (2010).
- ISBN 1 85891 004 8)
- ^ ゼノサーガ エピソードI 力への意志 - 物語と世界観 (in Japanese). Xenosaga Episode I Website. Archived from the original on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
Sources
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Merkabah". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
- Jacobs, Joseph; Biram, A. "Ma'aseh Bereshit; Ma'aseh Merkabah". The Jewish Encyclopedia.
- Kohler, Kaufmann. "Merkabah". The Jewish Encyclopedia.
- Dennis, Geoffrey W. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic, and Mysticism (1st illustrated ed.). United States: Llewellyn Worldwide. ISBN 978-0-7387-0905-5.
- Dennis, Geoffrey W. (Spring 2008). "The Use of Water as a Medium for Altered States of Consciousness in Early Jewish Mysticism: A Cross-Disciplinary Analysis". .
- ISBN 978-1-904113-33-1.
- Karr, Don (2022). "Notes on the Study of Merkabah Mysticism and Hekhalot Literature in English" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-01-19.
- Scholem, Gershom G. Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism, and Talmudic Tradition.
- Scholem, Gershom G. (1987). ISBN 978-0-691-07314-9.