A transparent illusion : : the dangerous vision of water in Hekhalot mysticism : a source-critical and tradition-historical inquiry / / C. R. A. Morray-Jones.

• Superior document: Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism ; Volume 59
• VerfasserIn: Morray-Jones, Christopher R. A.,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden : : Brill,, [2002]; ©2002
• Year of Publication: 2002
• Language: English
• Series: Supplements to the Journal for the study of Judaism ; Volume 59.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource.

In Jewish hekhalot mysticism, one who ascends to the heavenly temple may see something which looks like - but is not - water. Should he be deceived by this illusion, he betrays his unworthiness and exposes himself to retribution. Detailed examination of the water vision discovers that its real object is the celestial pavement, separating the fiery divine realm from the "watery" world of impure organic matter. This pavement is Ezekiel's firmament of hashmal - a luminous crystalline substance - seen by the visionary from above. Further investigation finds that the water vision continues an ancient tradition of exegesis of Ezekiel 1 as an account of a heavenly ascent, in which "water" signifies materiality, femininity and impurity. The wide and profound influence of these ideas is encountered in a variety of Jewish, Christian and Gnostic sources.

Table of Contents

Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- Abbreviations -- I. The Dangerous Utterance in "Four Entered Paradise -- 1. "Four Entered Paradise" in the Talmudic Sources and Canticles Rabbah -- 2. "Four Entered Paradise" in the Hekhalot Recensions -- 3. Source- and Redaction-Critical Observations on "Four Entered Paradise" and the Origins of the "Ascent to Paradise" Tradition -- 4. The Water Vision Episode in "Four Entered Paradise" according to ms. New York of Hekhalot Zuṭarti -- 5. The Cosmic Temple -- II. The [Arabic Text] Story and the Water Vision Episode: The Status Quaestionis -- III. The Water Vision Episode and its Context in Hekhalot Rabbati and Hekhalot Zuṭarti -- 1. The Sources -- 2. The One .... Like [Arabic Text] -- 3. The Keepers of the Gate and the Saying: "(Do Not) Enter! -- 4. The Keepers of the Gate in the Ascent of Rabbi Neḥunya b. Ha-Qanah -- 5. The Strange Expression: "Because .... -- 6. The Beginning of the Water Vision Episode: Textual Problems and Relationships -- 7. Conclusion: The Water Vision Episode and the Paradise Tradition -- IV. The Celestial Pavement and the "Ascent Midrash" in Hekhalot Zuṭarti -- 1. The Hekhalot Zuṭarti Literary Tradition -- 2. The Chaos Waters Theme -- 3. The Celestial Paving Stones -- 4. The Celestial Pavement in Midrashic and Biblical Tradition -- 5. The Ascent Midrash -- 6. Structural Analysis of the Ascent Midrash in Hekhalot Zuṭarti -- V. The Celestial Pavement and the Waters of Impurity -- 1. Some Jewish and Christian Apocalyptic Sources -- 2. The Origins of Hekhalot Zuṭarti -- 3. The Form of the Question -- 4. The Palace Above the Waters -- 5. The Waters of Impurity in the Qumran Scrolls -- 6. The Book of Revelation -- 7. Waters of Purity and Impurity -- VI. Some Gnostic and Christian Sources -- 1. The Waters of Materiality -- 2. The Realm of Air and Light.

VII. Temple Veils and Celestial Firmaments -- 1. The Enthronement of Sabaoth -- 2. Jewish Traditions about the Tabernacle and its Curtains -- 3. "Veil" as the Name of the First Heaven -- 4. The Veils of the Temple -- 5. The Curtain Before the Throne -- 6. The Locations of the Veils in Jewish and Gnostic Sources -- VIII. The Faces of the Chariot -- 1. The Ascent Continues (Massekhet Hekhalot, 28) -- 2. A Passage in ms. New York of Hekhalot Zuṭarti and the Sabaoth Enthronement Scene -- 3. Multiplying the Faces -- 4. Ben Sira, the Enthronement of Sabaoth, and Hekhalot Zuṭarti -- IX. The Stuff of Heaven -- 1. The Calf, the Levites, and the Waters -- 2. The Waters and the Heavenly Tablets -- 3. The Angelic Priesthood -- 4. The Heavenly Tablets and the Sea of Torah -- 5. The Celestial Substance -- X. Concluding Observations -- 1. The Date of Origin of Hekhalot Zuṭarti -- 2. Hekhalot Mysticism and [Arabic Text] -- 3. Dualism and Priestly Purity -- Appendix Solomon and the Queen of Sheba -- 1. The Legend Cycle of Solomon and the Queen -- 2. The Glass Palace Tale in Targum Sheni to Esther -- 3. The Glass Palace Tale in the Qur'ān -- 4. The Queen's Hairy Legs in Recent Jewish Folklore -- 5. The Queen's Hairy legs in the Tales of Ben Sira -- 6. The Muslim Commentators -- 7. The Subjugation of the Hairy Queen -- 8. Lilith -- 9. Lilith and the Queen of Sheba -- 10. The Queen of Sheba in the Zohar -- 11. The Problem of the Origin of the Demonic Queen -- 12. Lilith and the Hairy Demons in Isa. 34:14 -- 13. A Problem of Difference -- 14. The Queen of Sheba in Christianity -- 15. The Queen of Sheba in the First to Third Centuries CE -- 16. The Demon Queen in the Job Targum -- 17. Rabbi Jonathan and the Queen of Sheba -- 18. The Queen, the Glass Palace, and her Hairy Legs: A Survey and Assessment of the Evidence.

19. An Early Eighteenth-Century Yemenite Jewish Version of the Tale -- 20. Concluding Observations -- Bibliography -- Index of Primary Sources -- Index of Modern Scholars.