ON MYSTICAL

RIGHTEOUS

TRANSFORMATION
OF THE
IN JUDAISM*
INTO
LIGHT
BY
WILLEM

F. SMELIK
Kampen

I. The Question
of the intertestamental
According to early Jewish interpretation
into light in the
age the righteous awaited a mystical transformation
hereafter. 1 This particular
concept of what may be termed the
apotheosis of the righteous is shared by Paul in his letters to the
Corinthians2
and by the Apostolic Fathers.3
However, according to common opinion the mystical aspects of
In his
were played down in rabbinic literature.
the transformation
in rabbinic
vast anthology
of parallels
to the New Testament
literature Billerbeck4 voiced the opinion: "Die
altjcidische Literatur
kommt auf die Verwandlung
der Lebenden
selten zu sprechen".5 5
* Parts of this
paper were read at the International Meeting of SBL, Leuven,
7-11 August 1994. I thank prof. dr. Johannes de Moor for his illuminating comments in connection with this paper.
1 The
following abbreviations will be employed: LAB = Pseudo-Philo, Liber
Antiquitatum Biblicarum; GenR = Genesis Rabbah (etc); MT = Masoretic Text
(BHS); PesR = Pesikta Rabbati; PT = Palestinian Targum; Tg = Targum;
of the Prophets;
TO = Targum
TJN = Targum Jonathan
Onqelos;
TPsJ = Targum Pseudo-Jonathan; WisSol = Wisdom of Solomon.
2 See
esp. 1 Cor. 15:35-55 and 2 Cor. 3:18. Furthermore: Rom. 2:7, 10; 5:2;
8:17, 21, 30; 9:23; 1 Cor. 2:7; 15:43; 2 Cor. 4:17; Phil. 3:21; Col. 1:27; 3:4; 1
Thess. 2:12; 2 Thess. 2:14; 2 Tim. 2:10. See also: Matt. 13:43; 17:2ff; Hebr. 1:3;
2:10; 1 Petr. 1:7; 4:10; 5:1; 2 Petr. 1:3; Rev. 21:23ff; 22:5. Cf. P.W. van der
Horst, Ancient JewishEpitaphs. An introductorysurveyof a millenniumof Jewish funerary
epigraphy(300 BCE-700 CE). Kampen 1991, 137ff.
3 G.M. Schurr, "On the Logic of Antenicene Affirmations of the 'Deification'
of the Christian," AnglicanTheologicalReview51 (1969) 97, 99; S.J. Beggiani, Early
Syriac Theology.With SpecialReferenceto the Maronite Tradition. Lanham 1983, 73ff.
For references to Intertestamental literature, see the next note and below, note 15.
4 H.L. Strack, P. Billerbeck, Kommentarzum Neuen Testamentaus Talmud und
Midrasch. Bd. III. Mnchen 1926, 479f.
5 Indeed, the examples he adduced for this tradition are not drawn from rabbinic literature, but from 1 Enoch and the Apocalypse of Baruch. Similarly,
Wrterbuch
zum NeuenTestament,vol. II, 250, "sind
according to Kittel, Theologisches

123
Sverre Aalen6 6
about light and darkness
And in his monograph
observed: "Auch die Gerechten werden des Lichtes und Glanzes in
ist nicht
der Vollendung
teilhaftig werden. Aber die Vorstellung
Herrlichkeit
und
seinem
dag
sie
an
der
Gott
die,
eigenen
eigentlich
Sie
werden
den
Glanz
der
Licht
teilhaben
werden.
personlichen
Accordaber sie werden ihn nicht besitzen."
Schekina schauen,
in a
were
relevant
interpreted
scriptural
passages
ingly,
rather than mystical way. At the same time the
metaphorical
and the
between
God and men was safeguarded,
distinction
luminaries
deposited.
are still to be found in
Yet vestiges of the mystical interpretation
I
to
In this paper
intend
rabbinic literature.
bring the traditions of
reference
into more relief with particular
the "shining
righteous"
the
of
both
God
and
to the motif of "sevenfold
righteous.
shining"
traditions
In my opinion these heptadic
imply the notion of a
in
hereafter
with
God
as
the source of all light.
union
the
mystical
I shall discuss
of some of the traditions
The interpretation
in a
depends on the question whether they should be understood
to
take
In
it
is
or
addition,
necessary
mystical way.
metaphorical
in
and apotheosis
of astral immortality
notice of the reception
articulate
rabbinic
reluctance
to
the
Ancient Judaism.
Obviously,
bound up
is inextricably
the concept of mystical transformation
of the righteous as gods. It is no doubt not the
with the designation
itself they feared but the impact of apotheosis.
transformation
with
of the righteous
or identification
Similarly the comparison
as
would
state
of
evoked
their
light,
supernatural
being
by
angels,
become suspect, even though it was never completely abandoned.
of the
that we should study the traditions
It appears,
therefore,
of
the
of
the
question
background
"shining
righteous"
against
of
as
well
as
the
versus
reception
angelology
metaphor
mysticism
and apotheosis.
II. Metaphor and Mysticism
in a literal and therefore
Metaphors
may easily be understood
is supoften mystical fashion, especially if a literal interpretation
ausdrckliche Aussagen ber Teilhaben an Gottes Glanz sehr selten." Cf. R.
Mach, Der Zaddik in Talmud und Midrasch. Leiden 1957, 203.
6 S. Aalen, Die
Begriffe'Licht' und `Finsternis' imAlten Testament,im Sptjudentum
und im Rabbinismus.Oslo 1951, 319f.

124
traditions.
For this reason I believe the
ported by extra-biblical
in early and in ancient Israel
of
metaphors
reception
cosmological
have
oscillated
between
to
always
metaphor and mysticism. In fact,
a given tradition
was
it is not clear at all whether
sometimes
or not. Dan. 12:3 is a case in point. There
intended as metaphorical
the prospect of shining like the stars in heaven is hold out to the wise
men, but commentators
disagree whether this statement should be
taken literally or not.' 7
The sun has long been recognized
as a particularly
adequate
in
to
essential
of
the
the
Ancient
image
express
aspects
highest deity
and salvation,
and
Near East. Judgement
revivification
justice
were linked to the rising sun which in itself combined the characteristics of omnipresence
and transcendency.
Beyond the veneration
of the celestial bodies as deities, solar images have consciously been
of the divine.8 Recently the
utilized as metaphorical
descriptions
conviction
has grown that despite the obvious deposition
of the
luminaries
as deities in the MT, solar language was yet applied to
of the great cultures surrounding
God in a way clearly reminiscent
Israel.9 9
On the whole, however, Biblical tradition is extremely cautious
with respect to the luminous
transformation
of the faithful in the
and
well-known
some
notable
hereafter,
excepnotwithstanding

7
Cf. J.E. Goldingay, Daniel. Dallas 1989, 308f; cf. G.W.E. Nickelsburg, Resurrection,Immortality,and Eternal Life in Intertestamental
Judaism. Cambridge/London
1972, 26 and L.F. Hartman, A. di Lella, The Bookof Daniel. Garden City 1978,
309f. Contrast K. Spronk, BeatificAfterlifein Ancient Israel and in the AncientNear
East. Neukirchen-Vluyn 1986, 338-343 and G. Maier, Der ProphetDaniel. Wuppertal 1982, 414f.
8 For Ugaritic parallels M.C.A. Korpel, A Rift in the Clouds. Ugariticand Hebrew
Descriptionsof theDivine. Mnster 1990, 560-577. For the general religio-historical
background of the concept see O. Bcher, "Licht und Feuer", TRE. Bd. 21,
Berlin 1991, 83-90.
9 H.P. Sthli, SolareElementeim Jahweglauben
desAlten Testaments,Freiburg 1985;
B. Janowski, Rettungsgewissheit
und Epiphanie des Heils, Bd.1, Neukirchen 1989,
Eine Studiezu Jes. 60:1105ff; B. Lang, Gott als "Licht" in Israel und Mesopotamien:
3.19f. Klosterneuburg 1989; J.C. de Moor, The Rise of Jahwism: The Roots of
IsraeliteMonotheism.Leuven 1990, 42ff, 63ff, 101ff; M.S. Smith, The Early History
of God:Yahweh and the otherDeitiesin AncientIsrael. San Francisco 1990, 115f; Idem,
"The Near Eastern Background of Solar Language for Yahweh," JBL 109 (1990)
29-39; O. Keel, "Wer Zerstrte Sodom?", Theologische
Zeitschrift35 (1979) 17; O.
Keel, Ch. Uehlinger, Gttinnen, Gtter und Gottessymbole.Neue Erkentnisse zur
Kanaans und Israels aufgrund bislang unerschlossener
Religionsgeschichte
ikonographischer
Quellen.Freiburg 1992, esp. 282-298.

125
tions. 1 Similarly, the Biblical application
of solar language to God
devoid
of mystical
Its remarkable
is no doubt
implications.
not
out
of
rationality,
though
completely
pace with religious
in
the
well
be
due
to
Umwelt, may
developments
apologetic tendena
cies within
world generally holding the luminaries
in highest
esteem.
In the nature of things, that very same world might easily influence the reception of metaphors.
The dangers of solar metaphors
would soon become apparent and may often not have been avoided
in daily religion, even when metaphors
were consciously used as
such." I
It is significant that prophets of the YHWH-alone
movement had
a sun worship in which even temple priests were
to denounce
involved.'2
Palestinian
seals from the monarchic
period, as well as
altars and literary references attest to solar worship as an undercurrent throughout
Israel's history. 13 In the Byzantine period Helios
would turn up in synagogue mosaics as well as in magic practices.
The remarkable
boom of angelology in the last prechristian
centuries seems to be in debt of many older folk traditions. 14 The
association of the righteous with angels, stars and light became well
attested and widespread. 15 Take, for example,
1 Enoch 104:2ff:
You shall shine as the lights of heaven ...

and the portal of heaven

10
Spronk, BeatificAfterlife,258-269 and passim.
11 Cf.
Korpel, A Rift in the Clouds, 77-87.
12 Ez. 8:16; cf. 2
Kgs. 23:5, 11; Job 31:26-28. In 1 Kgs. 8:12 a plus in the LXX
connects the glorious presence of God with the sun.
13 M. Smith, "Helios in Palestine," Eretz Israel 16
(1982) 199-214, esp. 204.
14 M. Mach,
Zeit.
Entwicklungsstadien
des jdischenEngelglaubensin vorrabbinischer
Tbingen 1992.
15
E.g. LXX Job 4:18 (9:7); WisSol 5:5; 1QH I,8-12; III:19-23; 5Q511 35:3-4;
2 Bar. 51:1-10; 54:21; 4 Ezra 7:97; 1 Enoch 39:7; 50:1; 104:2; 108:11-13;
Apocalypse of Adam 7:52ff. For Sirach, see: P.W. Skehan, A. di Lella, The
Wisdomof Ben Sira, New York 1987, 285. Furthermore Y. Yadin, The Scrollof the
War of the Sonsof Lightagainst the Sonsof Darkness.Oxford 1962, 240ff; M. Hengel,
Judaism and Hellenism.Studiesin their Encounterin Palestineduring the Early Hellenistic
Period. London 1974, vol. I, 196f, II, 131; P. Schfer, Rivalitt zwischenEngelnund
Menschen: Untersuchungenzur rabbinischenEngelvorstellung.Berlin 1975, 24; J.H.
Charlesworth, "The Portrayal of the Righteous as an Angel," in: G.W.E.
Nickelsburg, J.J. Collins, Ideal Figures in Ancient Judaism. Chico 1980, 135-151;
M.J. Davidson, Angelsat Qumran:A ComparativeStudyof 1 Enoch 1-36, 72-108 and
Sectarian Writingsfrom Qumran. Sheffield 1992, 316ff; Mach, Entwicklungsstadien,
173ff.

126
shall be opened to you ... You shall have great joy as angels of heaven
... You shall become companion of the hosts of heaven. 16
is reminiscent
of the Canaanite
This highly developed expectation
concepts of deification and a heavenly host," though as a rule it was
monotheism-not
even when
not conceived
of as contradicting
were
it did
and
righteous
designated
"gods" .18 Apparently
angels
not seem to affect God's position as the Sole One. So if lines 103of Pseudo-Phocylides
104 of the Sentences
bluntly describe the
of the departed as coming to the light and deificatransformation
this in the same vein.'9
tion, we may understand
16 In the translation of A.F.
Segal, Two Powersin Heaven.Early RabbinicReports
about Christianityand Gnosticism.Leiden 1977, 186.
17 Cf. Is. 14:13ff;
Spronk, BeatificAfterlife,213ff; J.C. de Moor, An Anthologyof
Religious Texts from Ugarit. Leiden 1987, 169 n.8, 262 n.241-242; M.S. Smith,
"Biblical and Canaanite Notes to the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice from
Misused
Qumran," RdQ 12 (1987) 585-588; P. Hayman, "Monotheism-A
Word in Jewish Studies?," JJS 42 (1991) 1-15; Korpel, A Rift in the Clouds,
560-577.
In rabbinic literature the connection between the heavenly host and the
5, for
polytheistic pantheon is still discernible. In Midrash Tanhuma
instance, the host is conceived as divine '()
by application of Ps. 86:8
and Ex. 15:11.
18 LAB 64:6; Midrash Petirat Moshe Rabbenu in: A.
Jellinek, Bet ha-Midrash.
Bd. I, Leipzig 1853, 119: "And also: I am God and you are God, as it is written:
"But Israel
See, I make you God to Pharaoh (Ex. 7:1)." Tanhuma
37b:
are called by the Name ( ) of the Holy One, blessed be He. He is called God,
and He called Israel Gods, for it is written, 'I have said: 'You are Gods.', ";
GenR 79:8: "He [Jacob] said to him: You are God among the heavenly creatures
and I am God among the earthly creatures."; Sifr 306; LevR 11:1.
is
particularly frequent in the Dead Sea Scrolls, 1Q,M, 1QH, QL and the Songs of
is ambiguously applied to either
the Sabbath Sacrifice; and the designation
God or angels. See C. Newsom, Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice:A Critical Edition.
Atlanta 1985, 23ff, 293-295, 299-300. For further references, see note 19 below
and: M. Hengel, Der Sohn Gottes. Die Entstehungder Christologieund die JdischhellenistischeReligionsgeschichte.
Tbingen 1975, 67-89.
19 "For in fact we
hope that the remains of the departed will soon come to the
light again out of the earth. And afterwards they become gods." Translation
With Introducquoted from: P.W. van der Horst, The Sentencesof Pseudo-Phocylides.
tion and Commentary.Leiden 1978, 185ff. Others deliberately shunned such bold
language. In 1 Cor. 15:35-58 the transformation of the faithful resembling the
"that God will be
celestial bodies is preceded by:
,
everything in everyone" (1 Cor. 15:28). Elsewhere Paul explicitly leaves God's
incommensurable nature untouched: "who alone has immortality and dwells in
unapproachable light"; 1 Tim. 6:15-16. Cf. Phil. 2:5ff. On the spiritual climate,
see also P.S. Alexander's comments in his article: "Comparing Merkavah
Mysticism and Gnosticism: An Essay in Method," JJS 35 (1984) 1-18, spec. 12
n.27.

127
In the first centuries C.E. the Sages went against this tide. They
did not deny the existence of angels and a blissful hereafter,
but
in this respect. It is unclear
they restrained excessive expectations
what their reasons were for adopting
this policy. Perhaps early
Christian
and gnostic movements
made them wary of esoteric
speculation,
magic and mysticism.2 Whatever the reason may be,
such traditions
were no longer regarded as compatible
with (rabforemost
the
Enoch
and
the
Fallen
Traditions,2'
binic) Judaism;
of
Genesis
6:
1-4,22
"R.
man
is
'behold,
Angels
Papias interpreted:
become like one of us' (Gen. 3:22): as one of the ministering
angels.
"23 Within this climate
R. Akiba said to him: 'Enough,
Papias!'
the apotheosis of the righteous had to become suspect24 and this
It was
directly affected the concept of the shining of the righteous.
no longer a real shining, but merely a beholding and reflecting of
God's Glory.25
But how successful were the Sages? Hardly ever they simply
silenced older ideas when new ones emerged.
Rejected traditions
often went underground
to
only
emerge again as soon as circumstances
The
of the
'3D of Gen.
changed.
interpretation
6:4 as "angels",
for instance, was no longer tolerated in the course

20 E.E. Urbach, The

Sages: Their Conceptsand Beliefs.Jerusalem 1975, 18, 122f,
209, 660f; Mach, Entwicklungsstadien,208, 279ff, 331 and passim.
21 Urbach, The
Sages, 335. For the downgrading of Enoch in Christian traditions, see: J.A. McGuckin, The Transfigurationof Christ in Scriptureand Tradition.
[Studies in the Bible and Early Christianity, 9] Lewiston/Queenston 1986, 52.
22 P.S. Alexander, "The
Targumim and Early Exegesis of 'Sons of God' in
Genesis 6," JJS 23 (1972) 60-71. For the angelology of rabbinic literature, see:
Schfer, Rivalitt zwischen Engeln, 50ff; A. Shinan, "The Angelology of the
'Palestinian' Targums on the Pentateuch", Sefarad43 (1983) 181-98; E. Levine,
The Aramaic Versionof the Bible. Contentsand Context.Berlin 1988, 65ff.
23 Mekhilta
7 (ed. Lauterbach). Parallel versions: Mekhilta deRabbi
Simeon ben Jochai
14:29 (ed. Epstein, Melamed, Jerusalem 1954, 68);
GenR 21:5. Cf. D. Halperin, The Faces of the Chariot. Early Jewish Responsesto
Ezekiel's Vision.Tbingen 1988, 164ff.
24 For a reminiscence of the tradition: Strack, Billerbeck, Kommentarzum Neuen
Wrterbuchzum Neuen TestaTestament,Vol. IV, 887, 940ff. Cf. Kittel, Theologisches
ment, vol. II, 248ff.
25 For instance: Midr.
Qoh. R. I,3; I,7; PesR 23:6; LevR 28,1; 30,2; Sifr
Deut. 10;47. Time and again Jdg. 5:31 (and similar passages) could be applied
to righteous people (bHag. 12a); to the appearance of the high priest (J. Maier,
"Die Sonne im religisen Denken des antiken Judentums," ANRW II 19,1 (1979)
360); to those who suffer: bShabb. 88b; cf. bYom. 23a; bGitt. 36b; to reliable
judges: bB.B. 8b.

128
gloss in TN betrays
century C.E.26 But a marginal
And
been
the
more
must
have
original reading.
that "angels"
the
co-text
"noble
the
translation
contains
ones",
though TPsJ
and Azael. Thus "noble
mentions
the fallen angels Shamhazai
ones" was most probably derived from (proto-) TO, imbedded in
In Tg Psalm 82:6 the
what actually is a different interpretation.
with
translated
are
Gods"
is
indeed
clause
"you
"behold: you are conceived of as angels. "2'
is a palliation as well, because earlier Psalm
But this interpretation
as in a fragment of the
82:6 served as a proof-text for deification,
War Scroll: "I am reckoned with the gods and my dwelling is
I am reckon(ed] with the gods [and]
among the holy assembly ...
sons
of
the King. '28 These changes in the
is
with
the
my glory
are comprehensible
tradition
only if there was a real
targumic

of the second

danger of a literal interpretation.

Half-hearted
self-censoring
may also explain why some works
the question
of
towards
attitudes
to
adopt conflicting
appear
be
absent
from
first
it
seems
to
At
transformation.
sight,
mystical
Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum. The idea of intercession
by the
is
on behalf of the Israelites
ancestors
explicitly rejected,29 as is
The righteous will be
astrology3 or worship of the luminaries.31
from
or
stones
torches
illuminated
they are
paradise,
precious
by
If the stars fighting from
not said to shine forth themselves.32
heaven have been retained,
they merely are natural phenomena
under God's control. 33 Yet in other cases, notably in the story of
and are identified with the
the stars have a personality
Deborah,
26 So Alexander, "Early Targumim," 60-71. For the Greek versions, see: S.P.
Brock, "To Revise or Not to Revise: Attitudes to Jewish Biblical Translation,"
in: G.J. Brooke, B. Lindars (eds.), Septuagint,Scrollsand CognateWritings: Papers
Presentedto the InternationalSymposiumon the Septuagintand its Relationsto the Dead Sea
Scrollsand Other Writings(Manchester,1990). Atlanta, Georgia, 318ff.
27 Contrast Tg Psalm 82:1. The interpretation "angels" kept circulating: Tg
Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Tg Psalms 8:6; 29:1; 89:7; Midrash Aleph Beth 4:2; Prayer
of Joseph, in the quotation of Origen, see: E. Schrer, Millar, Vermes, The History
of the JewishPeoplein theAgeof JesusChrist. Vol. III. 2, Edinburgh 1987, 799. Note
that Jacob is presented as an angel in this text; Charlesworth, "Portrayal," 140.
28
4Q491 fr. 11, col. 1, lines 14, 18; so Hayman, "Monotheism," 9. For the
impact of Ps. 82:1, see: 11 QMelch. ii 10; mAv. III:6; bSanh. 39a.
29 LAB 33:5; cf. LAB 19:16, 28:9.
30 LAB 4:16.
31 LAB 11:6; 34:1-5.
32 LAB 23:6; 26:13.
33 LAB 13:7; 18:5; 23:10; 30:5.

129
the prospect of becomMoreover,
heavenly host and the angels."
stars
of
heaven
which
have
manifested
themselves
"like
the
ing
Here the identificaamong you now" is hold out to the righteous."
tion of the righteous with the stars is not smoothed out completely.
A similar case is the account of Saul's consulting of Samuel through
the medium of Endor. Evoking the spirit of Samuel she describes
him as being among the gods, accompanied
by angels.3s
The same mixed attitude
towards mystical transformation
is
observable
in the Targums.
avoid
to
set
too
much
Generally they
of Targum
store by stars and angels,37 with the sole exception
The
of
the
targumists
disposed
heavenly host
Pseudo-Jonathan .18
in Is. 24:21, 23 and
5:20, obscured its celestial character
in Jdg.
historicized
the delusive boast of the King of Babylon in Is. 13:1has been banished
14:23.39 Every thought of astral immortality
And yet some targumic tradifrom the present text of the Targum.
between angels and the righteous.
tions bear out the resemblance
According to TPsJ Gen. 28:12 (par. TN, FT), the angels on high
have relations with the angels down below (when they speak about
the image of the pious Jacob, 40 engraved upon the throne of glory).
of holy angels"
and the Israelites are called
Both the "myriads
ones"
Deut.
"holy
in TPsJ
33:2f (par. TN), but even in TO: "and
with him were myriads of holy ones ...
yea, he loved them, the
tribes; all his holy ones, the house of Israel." This description is not
as may be inferred from TPsJ Num. 25:12 where
coincidental,

14 LAB 31:2; 32:13-14.

35 LAB 33:5.
36 LAB 64:6;
as a plural. For magic in LAB, see also: H.
taking MT
Jacobson, "Samuel's Vision in Pseudo-Philo's Liber AntiquitatumBiblicarum,"JBL
112 (1993) 310-311.
37 A telltale insertion in the
targumic account of the heavenly ascent of Elijah
in 2 Kings 2:1-18 shows how much more prayer was held in high esteem than
occupation with heavenly appearances: "My master!My master!His prayerwas better
for Israel than chariots and horsemen." (MT: My father! My father! The chariots
of Israel and its horsemen.") The same equation of MT and TJN is found in 2
Kgs. 13:14.
38 See 22 above. In
TPsJ the seventy sons of God known from the Ugaritic pantheon are still present (TPsJ Gen. 11:7,8; Deut. 32:8), though they have become
angels (cf. TN, TPsJ Gen. 32:2f).
39 Which articulated the Canaanite astral
conception of afterlife; Spronk,
BeatificAfterlife,213ff.
40 So also
TJN Ez. 1:26 in MS Montefiore H.116; Tg 1 Chron. 21:15; Gen.
R. 68:12.

130
Phinehas is said to be transformed
into an eternal angel .4 His was
not the first case: Enoch ascended to the firmament
and was called
the
Great
Scholar
to
Gen.
Metatron
5:24, a stateaccording
TPsJ
in
ment mitigated
or flatly denied
other Targums.42
When the
Witch of Endor described
her vision as
coming up (M'5Y)
from the earth, namely Samuel's
avoided
spirit,'3 the Targumist
the idea of divinity by rendering:
"I saw the angel of the Lord who
came up from the earth."
So
is represented
by RD,45n here.
Hence Samuel was thought to have been changed into an angel:
"And Saul knew that he was Samuel."
A Tosefta-Targum
to 1
Sam. 17:43 describes the patriarchs
as angels in heaven.4
The famous story of the four rabbis who "went into Pardes"
attests to the shift from metaphorical
to mystical interpresumably
pretation.
Halperin and Schafer argued the story was originally not
a description of the Merkavah experience.45 But in the Tosefta and
the Babylonian
Talmud the original version was reinterpreted
in a
sense.
Such
show
that
the
mystical
examples
mystical interpretation
was never fully abolished.
11:7 the
According to Pesikta Rabbati
Israelites will become fire like God who is fire. Here the mystical
is apparent.46 Note also Pesikta Rabbati 11:5: "Even
interpretation

41
Compare the (Pharisaic) belief in the interim state of the faithful as an angel
or a spirit; D. Daube, "Critical Note. On Acts 23: Sadducees and Angels," JBL
109 (1990) 493-497.
42
Compare also LAB 1:16. FT formulates cautiously: "we do not know what
ultimately became of him" (in the translation of M.L. Klein, The FragmentTargumsof thePentateuch:Accordingto theirExtant Sources.Vol. II: Translation, Rome
1980, 9). TN has an ambiguous reading, see: M. McNamara, TargumNeofiti 1:
Genesis. Edinburgh 1992, 70 n. 11. TO simply denied that Enoch ascended to
heaven in Gen. 5:24: "because the Lord caused him to die."
43 1 Sam. 28:13.
Usually adduced as proof that the Israelites once venerated
their dead as gods: Spronk, BeatificAfterlife,40, 51f, 163, 255. Cf. Is. 8:19.
44 E. van Staalduine-Sulman, "The Aramaic
Song of the Lamb," in: J.C. de
Moor, W.G.E. Watson, Versein Ancient Near Eastern Prose. Neukirchen-Vluyn
1993, 271f.
45 P. Schfer, "New Testament and Hekhalot Literature: The
Journey into
Heaven in Paul and in Merkavah Mysticism," JJS 35 (1984) 19-35; Halperin, The
Faces of the Chariot, 31ff.
46 Cf. C.R.A.
"Transformational
Morray-Jones,
Mysticism in the
Apocalyptic-Merkabah Tradition," JJS 43 (1992) 18. Contrast however: Aalen,
Die Begriffe'Licht' und 'Finsternis', 319 n. 7. A variant reading in other editions
("they shall be existing [by themselves] and resembling [the Lord]") is no doubt
intended to avoid the mystical connotation; see W.G. Braude, Pesikta Rabbati.
Discoursesfor Feasts, Fasts, and SpecialSabbaths. New Haven/London 1968, vol. I,
215.

131
as the stars shine in the firmament,
so will they [Israel] shine in the
A parallel passage in DeutR 1 :12 (in the edition
time-to-come."
Wilna 1878) is followed by other expositions
in the same vein:
into
the
transformation
likeness
of
God as well as a
presupposing
with the angels. According
close association
to PesR 35:2 the
righteous will be able to endure divine fire in the world to come,
like the angels.
in a literal
biblical metaphors were easily understood
Resuming,
in
accordance
with
fashion,
popular
religious
concepts
deeply
rooted in the ancient world, but vice versa mystical descriptions
could be redressed
into metaphorical
ones in keeping with the
paucity of clearly mystical notions in the canonical MT itself. The
reception of angelology and apotheosis kept pace with these shifts
of understanding.
III.

The Sevenfold Light

this background
I call attention
to a particularly
Against
motif
that
is
connected
to
the
of
interesting
mystical transformation
the righteous.
This motif is the "sevenfold
of
both
God
shining"
and the righteous
in the hereafter,
sometimes
accompanied
by
luminaries
and angels, which suggests a likeness in supernatural
in this case too there was a
being. As I am about to demonstrate,
to
these
traditions
in a metaphorical
tendency
interpret
heptadic
vein though traces of the older interpretation
are still discernible.
In dealing with the astral and mystical overtones of these traditions,
some questions
commend
themselves:
(a) Do the traditions
go
the
biblical
sources
and
if
which
are
the
forces
so,
beyond
driving
then? (b) How significant
are the parallels,
and are they of a
metaphorical,
mystical, or esoteric nature?
The sun was known as a metaphor for God's Glory. In the words
of Ben Sira, "As the shining sun is clear to all, so the Glory of God
fills his works. '47 This equation
also sheds light on the famous
of
the
Helios
in
the
Zodiac panels of four ancient
depiction
sun-god
in
Palestine.48
to some the Zodiac
Jewish synagogues
According

47 42:16; cf. Is. 58:8 and,

by implication, IQH 4:5-6. According to Pirqe de
Rabbi Eliezer 6 the name of God is engraved in the sun.
48 Hammath-Tiberias, Na`aran,
Beth-Alpha and Husifa. See: R. Hachlili,
AncientJewish Art and Archeologyin the Land of Israel. Leiden 1988, 301-309.

132
panel has a calendric function and the sun-god is nothing but the
have been
cosmic sun itself.'9 Various alternative
interpretations
the
with
the
Shekhinah
seems
identification
advanced.5
However,
in
more plausible in the light of an interesting
passage
Deuteronomy
and then the Glory as
Rabbah which describes first the Shekhinah,
the centre of the Zodiac panel-that
is, in the position reserved for
of the Shekhinah may have
Helios.51 Such an artistic representation
become admissible after the Christian victory over the sol invictus in
Era.52
the Byzantine
of the sunRabbinic literature does not support the identification
in
manner.
Abelson
with
the
Shekhinah
any straightforward
god
as light, but his thesis did not
once tried to define the Shekhinah
meet with general approval. 53 Probably the rabbinic opposition to
associations
with the sun-god accounts for this
pagan or magical
and nmn
The word
was even largely avoided,
reticence.
as a result.55
chosen instead, with conflicting gender constructions
Yet the equation is supported
by Tg Qoh. 11:756 which translates
"to see the sun" as: "to behold the glory of the face of the
of the Lord, which will brighten
the faces of the
Shekhinah
that their beauty may
righteous by the splendour of his Shekhinah,

49
Suggested (though rejected) by G. Hanfmann, TheSeasonSarcophagusin Dumbarton Oaks. 2 vols. Cambridge 1951, vol. I, 194; R. Hachlili, "The Zodiac in
Ancient Jewish Art: Representation and Significance," BASOR 228 (1977) 61-77,
72ff.
50
See: J. Gutmann, "Early Synagogue and Jewish Catacomb Art and Its Relation to Christian Art," ANRW II 21,2 (1984) 1313-1342, esp. 1336f. Of course,
different contemporaneous interpretations of the motif cannot be excluded. See on
this subject also E.P. Sanders, Judaism: Practice& Belief 63 BCE-66CE, London
1992, 245ff.
51 On Deut. 1:10: "behold,
you are this day as the stars of heaven for
multitude"; M.L. Klein, "Palestinian Targum and Synagogue Mosaics,"
Immanuel 11 (1980) 33-45, esp. 43f; Gutmann, "Early Synagogue and Jewish
Catacomb Art," 1337.
52 Cf.
J. Maier, "Die Sonne," passim.
53 Abelson, The Immanence God in Rabbinical Literature. London 1912,
J.
of
reprint: New York 1969, 82-97. He was followed by Aalen, Die Begriffe'Licht' und
'Finsternis'. See, however, A.M. Goldberg, Untersuchungber die Vorstellungvonder
Schekhinahin der frhenrabbinischenLiteratur. Berlin 1969, 6; Urbach, The Sages,44f. ,
60.
54 The Book of Secrets contains a Greek
hymn for Helios (in Hebrew characters).
55 See Maier, "Die Sonne," 359f and
J.
passim.
56 L. Dez Merino,
Targumde Qohelet.EdicinPrincipedel Ms. Villa-Amiln.5de
Alfonsode Zamora. Madrid 1987.

133
be like the sun." Significantly,
this interpretation
has
of Qoheleth
little to do with the original text. It is however supported
by the
targumic interpretation
of Jdg. 5:31 which contains the same equation of sun and glory.57 Whereas MT only reads: "May his lovers
be like the sunburst in its strength,"
TJN runs:
...and his (righteous)58 lovers will be destined59 to shine in the splendour of his glory a three hundred and forty three times more, as the
sunburst in its strength .60
343 is 7 to the third power. This expansive translation
consists of
two parts, following the standard
of the "extended
procedure
simile":6'
the first translation
often folbeing more interpretative,
lowed by 3 plus a literal translation.
The first translation
equates
r
to
and
toto '
62 with supplements:

57
Perhaps the Essenes even identified the sun with YHWH; Smith, "Helios
in Palestine," 202f. mSukk. 5:4 rejects praying headed to the sun, with reference
to the light of the Shekhinah. Despite the apparent reluctance of the rabbis solar
language continued to be applied to the Shekhinah in rabbinic literature; cf.
Helios and YHWH are
Aalen, Die Begriffe'Licht' und 'Finsternis', 317. In
separated by two heavens, yet they liken each other very much. To quote Smith
(p. 210), "Both are gods of fire, the most conspicuous attribute of each is light,
both have the gift of prophecy, and both are seated in chariots."
58 In some
manuscripts of Western provenance. In addition to Sperber's
testimony: MS Poc. 184 (Bodleian Library, Oxford), MS hbr. 18 (Bibliothque
Nationale, Paris), MS El. f.6 (Universittsbibliothek, Jena) and Cod. Heb. A10
and Cod. Heb. A11(Kaufmann Collection, Budapest); and the Vorlageof Midrash
6.
Tanhuma
59
. J. Ribera Florit, "La funcin modificadora de 'atid en
TJN
arameo," AO 5 (1987) 146-149; M. Sokoloff, A Dictionary of Jewish Palestinian
Aramaicof the ByzantinePeriod. Ramat-Gan 1990, 422.
60 Translation based
upon: A. Sperber, The Biblein AramaicBasedon Old Manuscripts and Printed Texts. Vol. II: The Former Prophets According to Targum
Jonathan. Leiden 1959.
61 F. Bhl, "Der erweiterte
Vergleich im Targum," FJB 18 (1990) 23-44; A.
van der Kooij, Die alten Textzeugendes Jesajabuches:Ein Beitragzur Textgeschichte
des
Alten Testaments.Gttingen 1981, 176. Cf. below PT Zech. 4:2.
62 The
prepositions point to a chiasmus in which case "sun" and "Glory"
belong together. However, the reverse is equally possible. Cf. the equation of MT
Hab. 3:4
with
. Nevertheless, the equation boils down to understanding the sunlight as the mediation of the Glory.

134
In MT

of the righteous
the comparison
to the sunburst
in its
refers
to
the
fatal
blow
which
Israel's
enemies
strength presumably
will experience.
In Egypt the rising sun represented
both redempof the wicked, the enemies of the
tion of the faithful and destruction
sun-god.63 In a similar way the MT makes the righteous function
as God's instruments
of judgement.
The targum of Jdg. 5:31 chimes in with the translation
of TJN
Is. 30:26 and 2 Sam. 23:4,64 though the MT of these three passages
has little in common.
In these passages the sun will shine a 343
times more, which confirms the equation of the Glory and the sun.
in 2 Sam. 23:4 the glory is that of the righteous themMoreover,
which
of the righteous with the
selves,
points to an identification
Glory of God. We have to stress here that the three new elements
in TJN-the
introduction
of the Glory, the shining of the righteous
and the strength of shining (343 times)-are
not born out by the
Hebrew of any of these passages, not even by their alignment.
At
this juncture
it is interesting
to point to a well attested variant
reading in TJN Is. 60:5: j'7fi3ml "and you will shine" instead of
Since it is clearly the light of
pii1Jnm "and
you will be lightened."
the Glory of God which is involved here (see Is. 60:1-2, 19-20),
this
tradition allows the faithful of Israel to share actively in the revelation of his eschatological
splendour whereas the alternative
reading
of TJN mitigates this by using the passive stem.65
The translation
of Jdg. 5:31 is elliptic because TJN does not provide the information
the multiplification.
necessary to understand
The element of comparison
is the primeval light of the creation
week, derived from Isaiah 30:26:
Then the light of the full moon will be as the light of the glowing sun,
and the light of the glowing sun will be sevenfold, as the light of the
seven days, in the day when the LORD will bind up the hurt of his
people, and heal its inflicted wound.

63
und Epiphanie, 105ff; spec. 156, 169, 174; Smith,
Janowski, Rettungsgewissheit
"Solar Language," 36f.
64 P.
Churgin, Targum Jonathanto the Prophets. New Haven 1927, 95, 125; P.
Weisz, Az aggada Jnthnben 'Uzzil targumban,Budapest 1931, 29; R. le Daut,
La nuit pascale, Rome 1966, 251; L. Smolar, M. Aberbach, Studies in Targum
Jonathan to the Prophets. New York, 1983, 169-187, 223; Komlosh,
f.
291
65
Compare also NumR 11,5; Sifre Num., 41 (ed. Horovitz, 44); Sifre Sut, 6
(ed. Horovitz, 247); Jellinek, Beth ha-Midrasch, Bd. 3, 154.

135
the dualis
is assumed to have multiplied
The targumist
as 7x7, with the factor of the
understood
resulting in
is not entirely
number 343,66 but this explanation
the mysterious
reads "as (D) the light of the seven
The Hebrew
satisfactory.
do not deviate from that. So the addidays", and the translators
tional factor is obscure, and in fact 7 x 7 is not that obvious either
the primeval light shines only sevenfold .67 In the
since traditionally
version of TJN:
And the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun and the light
of the sun will be about to shine three hundred forty-three times
more, as the light of the seven days, in the day when the LORD will
restore the exiles of his people and lift up the sickness of its affliction.
The eschatological
light is put on a par with that of the seven creation days, which for that very reason cannot have been the light of
the celestial bodies. These were only created at the fourth day. This
as the Glory of God in TJN Hab.
primeval light was understood
3:4. The same light is thought of as God's sevenfold shining in the
Cave 1:
Thanksgivings
Hymns from Qumran
And I have shone forth with a sevenfold li[ght] with [the light which]
Thou [hast establi]shed for Thy Glory. For Thou art unto me an
and Thou settest up my feet in
illumination
[ever]lasting
[righteousness].68
As the reference is in the present to either the light of creation or
the
the eschatological
light, it implies a mystical notion. Moreover,
co-text contains esoteric descriptions
of illumination 69 and hence
of sevenfold shining does not need to be merely
the expectation
is the co-text of 1 Enoch
metaphorical.
Indisputably
eschatological
91:16:

66 So Rashi in his
commentary of Jdg. 5:31; see: M. Cohen (ed.),
, Joshua,
Judges. Ramat Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 1992.
67 In a
separate short note I intend to put forward a different solution for the
mysterious number 343.
68
1QH 7:24-25 in the translation of: M. Mansoor, The ThanksgivingsHymns.
Translatedand Annotatedwith an Introduction.[Studies on the Text of the Desert of
Judah, 3]. Leiden 1961, 151. For a slightly different reconstruction, see: HolmNielsen, Hodayot, 130f; B. Kittel, The Hymns of Qumran. Chico 1975, 126.
69 Contrast: Mansoor, ThanksgivingsHymns, 90 (cf. 65ff) and Kittel (Hymns of
Qumran, 136) who understand 1QH 7:24-25 in an eschatological sense due to the
wider co-text.

136
The first heaven shall depart and pass away; a new heaven shall
appear; and all the powers of heaven shall shine forever sevenfold. 10
That these "powers"
firmed by the longer

may include the righteous is, I believe,

recension of 2 Enoch 66:7:

con-

Blessed are the righteous, who shall escape the great judgement of the
Lord, because they shall shine forth a seven times more than the
sun. 71
the identification
of the righteous with divine, primeval
Apparently
was
not
offensive
to the author
of this composition
light
yet
presumably
dating from the first century C.E.'2 Some may have
associated the righteous with luminous angels as well, as is apparent
from 2 Enoch 19:1:
And I saw there seven bands of angels, very bright and glorious, and
'
their faces shining more than the rays of the sun.'3
The beatific righteous will shine much more strongly than the sun.
This is also true of the "sunlike man" coming down in the Testament of Abraham
than
7:2-5, flashing "more
(long recension)
seven suns" .'4
The number seven is especially important
in the Semitic world.
to
attribute
to the number
However, inspiration
special importance
seven may also have been found in the Hellenistic
culture.
for example, believed the cosmos to be ordered by the
Aristobulus,
number seven and to him the "sevenfold
logos" was the source of
all the light."
An indication
of possible
influence
of such
a
in
Sam.
comes
from
2
23:4 in
speculative
thinking
telling gloss
some manuscripts
of Targum
in
fact
an
Jonathan,
providing
70 In the translation of E. Isaac in:
J.H. Charlesworth, The Old Testament
Pseudepigrapha.Vol. 1. London 1983, 73.
71 Based
upon the translation in: Mach, Entwicklungsstadien,165. Compare:
W.R. Morfill, R.H. Charles, The Bookof theSecretsof Enoch.Oxford 1896, 82. Cf.
65:8.
72 Schrer,
History of theJewish People, Vol. III.2, 748; cf. M.E. Stone (ed.),
Jewish Writingsof the SecondTemplePeriod, Assen 1984, 406.
73 Morfill, Charles, The Book the Secrets,23.
of
74 Cf. WisSol 7:25-8:1; LAB 12:1; 4 Ezra
7:122-125; 2 Enoch 32:8ff; 4 Maccabees 17:4-5.
75
Hengel, Judaism and Hellenism,I, 166ff; D. Winston, The Wisdomof Solomon.
A New Translationwith Introductionand Commentary.Garden City, 1979, 36f. Note
that in the Graeco-Roman world the sun-god is sometimes adorned with seven
rays: C.F. Burney, The Bookof Judges. London 1918, 404 n.

137
amalgam of two alternative
gloss is printed in italics):
...you
dawn
forth
times

identifications

of the primeval

light (the

will shine forth in the splendour of your glory like the light of
that grows stronger and stronger and like the sun that will shine
in the splendour of his glory a three hundred and forty-three
in the light of the seven stars of the seven days. 16

The

seven stars or planets consisted of the moon, sun, Mercury,

Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn and they evoked much interest
in the Hellenistic
world."
to certain Jewish traditions
According
the primeval light of the first creation days, when the sun, moon
and stars had not yet been put into the firmament,
had been
which
"sevenfold" . 78
there existed another tradition
Apparently
the sevenfold
with the seven planets.
This
identified
shining
the
which
was
described
as
This
prompted
question
light
shining.
of his
question is answered by the gloss putting "the splendour
on
a
with
the
seven
stars.
Glory"
par
The association of planets and the son(s) of God, attested in Job
38:7 (morning stars/sons of God) and in 4Q246 (in the singular, for
In
the eschaton) '71 is related to the concept of astral immortality.
an epitaph of a city-councillor
God is said to have "placed
us in the
The connection
between
the seven
sphere of the planets. "8
the seven creation days and the righteous occurs with
luminaries,
in Targum
Pseudotoo, for example
respect to the menorah
of
Ex.
40:4:
Jonathan
16 MS Or. 2371 and the London
Polyglot (P. Humbert, "Le Messie dans le
Targum des Prophtes," Revuede Thologieet de Philosophie43 (1910) 420-447, 44
(1911) 5-46, here: 431f.); the latter has the same plus in TJN Is. 30:26. In the Antwerp Polyglot this variant is recorded among the "rejected readings" in vol. 7,
p. 29.
77 L. Yarden, The Tree
of Light: A Studyof the Menorah. The Seven-branched
Lampstand. Uppsala 1972 (revised version; first published London 1971), 50f; Maier,
"Die Sonne," 370. Cf. the Heptadic verses in: P.W. van der Horst, Joodshellenistische pozie.
Kampen 1987, 85.
78 bPes. 68a = bSanh.
(
91b); ExR 18:11; 50:5; GenR 3:6 by implication; and
a poem of Jose ben Jose (4th century C.E.), quoted by J. Maier, "Die Sonne,"
405. Cf. GenR 3:4. For 49 times, see: ExR 15:21; Yalqut Shim'oni ad Zech. 4:2,
4; PesR 42:4 (cf. PesR 8:4); Midrash Konen 26 (ed. A. Jellinek, Bet ha-Midrasch.
Bd. II, Leipzig 1853); cf. 3 Enoch 12:3.
79
Fitzmyer, "The Contribution of Qumran Aramaic to the Study of the New
Testament," NTS 20 (1974) 391ff; E. Puech, "Fragment d'une apocalypse en
Aramen (4Q246 = Pseudo-Dand) et le 'Royaume de Dieu'," RB 99 (1992) 98131 : "Comme les comtes de la vision, ainsi sera leur rgne!"
80
CIJ 788; so Van der Horst, Ancient JewishEpitaphs, 123f.

138
...and

you shall light its seven lamps corresponding to the seven

planets which are likened to the righteous who enlighten the world
through their righteousness.
The representation
of the luminaries
by the menorah lamps, in the
wake of Zechariah's
fifth vision and Mesopotamian
was
astronomy,
current in the days of Philo and josephus.81
have
The light may
symbolized God himself,82 as it would later on in the Kabbalah.83
The seven stars prominently
1:12-20
figure in Revelation
the
vision
of
"one
like
a
son
of
man"
in
the
of
midst
describing
seven golden lampstands,
seven
stars
in
his
holding
right hand,
whose face was shining as "the sunburst
in its strength."
This
clearly evokes TJN Jdg. 5:31. The figure says:
As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand,
and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the
seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
McNamara
points to TPsJ Ex. 39:37 and 40:4 to explain the
vision8 and particularly
the nature of the angels. He concludes that
the angels symbolize the just and therefore represent
"the human
of
the
or
"those
in
representatives
community"
charge of them. 1185
This may be true, but his conclusion that the just are on earth is
because the heavenly ascent of the just is not suppressed
premature,
in this particular
the seven
targum as we saw earlier. Moreover,
continue
to
in
with
the
number
Revelation,
angels
play a part
along
which
recalls
the
of
the
number
seven
in
various
seven,
importance
81 E.R.
Goodenough, Jewish Symbolsin the Greco-RomanPeriod, vol. IV, New
York 1954, 71-98; M. Smith, "The Image of God," Bulletin of theJohn Rylands
Library 40 (1958) 473-512; Yarden, Tree of Light, 49ff.
82
Goodenough, Jewish Symbols,vol. 4, 82ff; Yarden, Tree of Light, 55; Smith,
"Helios in Palestine," 208. Cf. PesR 8:4. In pagan representations of the Zodiac
panel the seven planets may take the place of the sun-god Helios. On a sun dial
found during the Temple Mount excavations in Jerusalem a seven branched
menorah has been incised; figure 2a in: Hachlili, Ancient JewishArt, 239. In a fifteenth century manuscript the picture of a menorah is made up by the words of
Psalm 67 with an esoteric play on the numerical value of the letters finally resulting
in the word See
A. Schimmel, The Mysteryof Numbers. New York/Oxford
1993, 134.
83 Yarden, Tree
of Light, 57f.
84 M. McNamara, The New Testamentand the Palestinian
Targum to the Pentateuch.
Rome 1966, 192-199. The latter passage is translated differently by McNamara
"that shine unto eternityin their righteousness.See, how(198):
ever, PT Zech. 4:2.
85 McNamara, New Testamentand Palestinian
Targum, 198f.

139
in connection
with the celestial
Dead Sea Scrolls,
especially
abode.86 In addition, a new fragment of the Palestinian
Targum to
Zechariah
4:2 sheds fresh light on this issue. It is worthy of a
because it preserves three interpretations
of the
lengthy quotation
"I saw, behold,
a
Hebrew lclause:
menorah
all of gold". 87
I saw and behold, Jerusalem, her splendour was as the splendour of
her glory from one end of the world to another, and the sanctuary
house was built in its midst and the temple was built in the midst of
the sanctuary, the altar was established in the midst of the temple and
behold, the priests, the sons of Aaron were bringing sacrifices before
the Lord and offering incenses of spices to be received with delight.
And I was looking a second time and I saw and behold, a company
of scholars was coming: king David at the head of seven good leaders
and eight princes, one for each (of them). These seven good leaders
were Adam, Seth, Methusalem at his right hand, Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob and Moses at his left hand and eight princes: Jesse, Saul
and Samuel, Amos, Zephaniah,
Hizkia and Elia and the King
Messiah. A third time I was looking and I saw and behold, a
menorah all of gold and a basin on top of it and seven lamps on it;
these are the seven lamps: seven classes of righteous ones, by whose
righteousness the world is preserved which was created in seven days.
Three

all of which are introduced

as visions of the
traditions,
have been interlaced here: the menorah as ( 1 ) the light
menorah,
of the heavenly Jerusalem
with its sanctuary,
(2) king David at the
head of deceased ancestors and (3) seven classes of righteous ones
which seem to fulfil a heavenly function distributed
over the seven
In
creation days.
the latter tradition
the righteous
function like
stars, or their guiding angels. 88
86 Rev. 3:1; 4:5; 5:1, 5, 6; 8:2, 6; 10:3, 4; 11:13; 12:3; 13:1; 15:1, 6, 7, 8; 16:1;
17:1, 3, 7, 9, 10, 10, 11: 21:9. Cf. Newsom, Songsof theSabbath,31ff; Yadin, Scroll
of the War, 157, 165; and the seven crowns of the priestly vestment in 11QNJ: M.
Kister, "Notes on Some New Texts from Qumran," JJS 44 (1993) 282.
87 The text was
published by: R. Kasher, "The Targumic Additions to the
Haftarah for the Sabbath of Hannuka," Tarbiz 45 (1975/76) 27-45.
88 For
astrological elements, see: Levine, The AramaicVersion,71ff; Urbach, The
Sages, 275ff. In PT Zech. 4:7 the rise of the Messiah in the World to Come coincides with the fall of a planet. If we accept the proposal of E. van StaalduineSulman, "The Aramaic Song of the Lamb," 279, that the Tosefta-Targum to 1
Sam. 17:8 is a (defective) acrostich reading
, this would be direct support for the astral interpretation.

140
of her glory"
is
the expression
"the
splendour
Since "her glory" serves as an element of comparison,
It may either
to assume the suffix refers to Jerusalem.
the
Shekhinah.
The latter is
or
to
menorah,
elliptically
two
"the
i1iP\
glory of the
manuscripts
reading
suggested by
or simply, but no doubt with the same intention,
Lord",
e7p',
"the Glory. 1189
The seven classes of righteous are often alluded to in rabbinic
literature,
though nearly as often devoid of celestial speculation.10
about the seven
It is difficult to trace the origin of the tradition
classes of righteous wise men. The targumic fragment quoted above
It seems apt to cite the "seven pillars of the
calls them "scholars".
world who were able to please the most just God" according to PsClementine
(Homilies 18:14).9' They may go back to a Mesopotathe seven antediluvian
mian
tradition
about
sages apkallli.11
several of these sages were said to have ascended to
Interestingly,
tradition
was known in the Hellenistic
heaven. This Babylonian
the work of Berossos93 and in the Jewish world
world through
through the Enoch literature.94 Because it has been established that
it is not
these traditions were also taken over by the Canaanites,95
too far-fetched
to suppose that the concept of the Seven Sages
channels
or
reached
rabbinic
either through
teaching
literary
the
channels
of
folk
through
religion.
interLater on the rabbis seem to have dropped the "astral"
menorah.
even
manufacture
of
of
the
forbade
the
They
pretation

Finally,
pleonastic.
it is strange
refer to the

89 That was
often identified with God's Glory is presupposed by the gloss
under the heading
in Codex Reuchlin 3 (Karlsruhe), TJN Is. 10:16. Cf.
Kister, "Notes on Some New Texts," 286.
90 Take, for
example, LevR 30:2 in which the rabbinic restraint has exercised
its influence decisively. Cf. TestLev 8:2; B. Grossfeld, The Two Targumsof Esther.
Translated, with Apparatus and Notes. Edinburgh 1991, 110; and further Smith,
"The Image," 498.
91 Winston, Wisdom Solomon,211f and
of
esp. Smith, "The Image," 498.
92 H.S.
Kvanvig, Roots of Apocalyptic.The MesopotamianBackgroundof the Enoch
Figure and The Son of Man. Neukirchen-Vluyn 1988, 202ff. See also K. van der
Toorn, "De menskan niet ten hemelklimmen,nochafdalennaar het dodenrijk". Utrecht
1988, 13-14.
93 Cf. W.G. Lambert, "A New Look at the
Babylonian Background of
Genesis," JThS 16 (1965) 287-300.
94 Cf.
J.C. VanderKam, "1 Enoch 77,3 and a Babylonian Map of the World,"
RdQ 11/42 (1983) 271-278.
95
J.C. de Moor, "Ugaritic Lexicographical Notes I," UF 18 (1986) 258; Idem,
An Anthology,165, n.58.

141
menorahs with seven branches.96 Archeological
finds indeed show
a marked decrease of seven branched
candle-sticks
for the Tannaitic period, though in the third century C.E. the seven branched
menorah reappears .97 In later rabbinic literature the comparison
of
the seven planets with the menorah
turns up again,98 just as the
concept that the light of the menorah will shine sevenfold for Israel
in the Messianic Age.99
IV. Conclusions
The survey of the heptadic traditions bears out that the use of the
motif of sevenfold shining was closely related to astral symbolism.
An astral interpretation,
i. e. the notion of a mystical union with
God as the source of all light, accounts best for the modifications
in TJN (Jdg. 5:31, 2 Sam. 23:4, Is. 30:26, 60:5).100 The concept
of astral immortality
was known
to Hellenistic
It
Judaism.
to
be
a
rooted
in
ancient
Near
Eastern
appeared
concept deeply
Esoteric teaching in connection
with the creareligious tradition.
we
tion light was not unknown
to the Sages either.101 However,
observed a tendency
or mitigate
among the rabbis to eliminate
in
which
the
beatific
faithful
were
as
luminaries
passages
depicted
in their own right sharing in the divine light.
In TJN the sunlight shines forth from God himself
71I'iD)
but the righteous
by the equation of "his glory" and MT imi,
themselves shine forth as well."" The righteous,
the sunlight and
the Glory are simply put on a par, without distinction or distance.

96

Goodenough, Jewish Symbols,vol. IV, 88; A.-M. Goldberg, "Der siebenarmige Leuchter," ZDMG 117 (1967) 232-246, esp. 236.
97 Hachlili,
Ancient JewishArt, 251ff.
98 In addition to
5;
TPsJ Ex. 39:37; 40:4; NumR 15:4, 7; Tanhuma
ad Jdg. 5:31, 59.
Yalqut Shim'oni
99 ExR 50:5.
100When
Goldberg, Schekhinah,527acknowledges that a true unification of man
with the Shekhinah is meant, yet rejects the idea of an unio mystica,this seems to
be a matter of terminology.
101Urbach, The
Sages, 209.
102See next to the
targumic variants discussed above, Tg Psalm 57:3: "so that
I [David] may pass before the Lord into the Garden of Eden to see by the light
of the righteous the web (that was made) on my behalf." Antwerp Polyglot, vol.
7, under the "rejected readings"; cf. 56:14 (ed. E. White, A CriticalEdition of the
Targum of Psalms: A ComputerGeneratedText of BooksI and II, PhD McGill University, Montreal 1988).

142
his eternal light
glory (e7p') will be their glory
will be their light
Is.
TJN
60:2,3,5,19-20).
that this concept was partly removed from
Exactly the circumstance
the official Targum may point to its antiquity.
By way of contrast,
rabbinic
literature
tends
to differentiate
between
man
and
Shekhinah-it
is merely the latter's brightness which the righteous
behold.
The sun will not be diminished or outshined by the light of God's s
own Glory in the version of TJN. In rabbinic literature
sun and
moon may be blinded by the splendour of the Shekhinah,103 and in
bPes. 8a (cf. 68a) the light of the righteous is only a little lamp in
to that of the Shekhinah.
It is therefore noteworthy how
comparison
the Targumist
resolved the contradiction
between Is. 24:33 (dull
60:19
is
the
instead
of sun and moon; cf.
light
luminaries),
(God
In bPes.
Rev. 21:23) and Is. 30:26 (multiplification
of sunlight).
is solved by distributing
the
68a ( = Sanh. 91b) this contradiction
two alternatives
over two periods: the messianic age and the world
to come. In TJN another solution is offered. Is. 24:33 is applied to
of the sun and the moon, and Is. 60:19 "The sun
the worshippers
shall be no more your light by day" is modified into: "and you
shall
no more need the sun for light by day." In this way the targumist
would be
avoided to pass on the idea that the sun's brightness
diminished. 104 Apparently
the idea that the sunlight would be
This seems to antedate the rabbinic
abolished was unacceptable.
restraint with respect to the sun and may well be related to the close
with God's Glory.
association
of the luminaries
If the sun would not be diminished,
it should at least be outshined and that is probably why rabbinic traditions of a sevenfold,
or seven times seven, shining came into existence. But not more:

God's

Then if the sun, which is but one of the countless myriads of the servants of the Holy One, blessed be He, shines on the whole world,
how much more the Shekhinah of the Holy One, blessed be He,
Himself! 105
103LevR 31:9; cf. bMen. 86b.
104The same effect seems to be achieved in
TJN Jer. 4:23 and Am. 8:9, though
not in Joel 2:10; 3:4; 4:15.
105bSanh. 39a. Cf. bHull. 59b. Also bBB 75a: "In a similar
category is the
following: 'And you shall put of your Glory upon him,' but not all your Glory."
(Num. 27:20). An apologetic distinction between sun and Shekhinah recurs in
DeutR 4:3; LevR 31:9.

143
Thus the 343-traditions
could not gain a firm foothold in rabbinic
tradition.
In TJN there is no mention of either the face of the Shekhinah
or that of the righteous,
nor is there a clash of metaphors,
both of
which would tend to render the tradition purely symbolical-as,
11:7 (see above).
If we juxtapose
Sifre
e.g., in Tg Qoheleth
10 and 47 on the one hand, and the heptadic tradiDeuteronomy
tions quoted thus far on the other, it seems as if the former
advocate a metaphorical
emphatically
interpretation
(10):
Rabbi Simeon ben Jochai said: The faces of the righteous resemble
seven joys ill the time to come: sun,106 moon, firmament, stars,
lightnings, lilies' 07 and lamps.108
and the parallel
proof-text:

version

in 47, with a telling

interpretation

of the

"As the days of heaven on (!) the earth" (Deut. 11:21), when the
faces of the righteous will be like the sun and thus it says: "And its
lovers (will be) like the sunburst in its strength." (Jdg. 5:31). Rabbi
Simeon ben Jochai said: "For seven joys will the faces of the
righteous receive the face of the Shekhinah in the time to come, ...
The images of corporality
and
nature,
(faces), of cosmology,
household utensils surely convey a notion of bliss. However,
some
connotations
in the passages quoted are by now familiar to us and
an
suggest
underlying
polemic. The sevenfold joy reminds us of the
seven classes of righteous
in heaven which in turn cannot be
without having recourse to the astral symexplained satisfactorily
bolism of the seven planets. Indeed, the seven classes recur in 10,
this they say: "There
just before the passage quoted above: "From
are seven classes of righteous
ones in the Garden of Eden, one
"
above the other.'
in the manuscript
tradition the
Interestingly,
intruded in 47: another MS reads 7'fi3fib
mystical interpretation
"to shine forth" instead of
"to receive the face of
the Shekhinah". "Shining"
was one of the three extras of TJN, as
we saw above.

106
This
. word often denotes "sun"; see Maier, "Die Sonne," 360.
107The inclusion of lilies is based
upon Psalm 45:1; Smith, "The Image," 499.
Cf. Matt. 6:28f and Goodenough, Jewish Symbols,vol. III, 192.
108Translation based
upon the edition of: L. Finkelstein, Siphre ad
Deuteronomium.Berlin 1939, 105.

144
The apotheosis of the faithful to the Glory of God as angels of
and intertestamental
literature
light, found in the New Testament
alike, cannot have been unknown to the Sages. It may even have
to
been shared by them initially until it had to be suppressed
which entailed the
counter heretics who stuck to the light-mysticism
of angelic beings visibly represented
by the
danger of veneration
have
become
aware
of
the
attraction
stars. We
strong
increasingly
popular magic and mysticism'9 exerted on Jewish life in the age of
the rabbis.
TJN's version of sevenfold shining may still have included the
The
that once also pertained
to the menorah.
light-mysticism
of the light of creation by a multiple of seven and the
representation
in the splendour of the Shekhinah
the
by identifying
participation
with the righteous and with the increase of light
number "seven"
that goes far
seem to indicate a transformation
of the righteous
of
material
bliss.
It
is a tradition
beyond metaphorical
descriptions
that does not really fit well into the general picture of TJN. Any
attempt to retouch the passages involved may simply not have been
successful because the idea was so popular, both with regard to the
hereafter and the World to Come.

109No clear-cut distinction is possible, cf. Alexander,

"Comparing Merkavah
Mysticism," 8.