3 Enoch 44 - The Spirits of the Righteous
3 Enoch 44
Section: Cosmic Visions
Translated by Hugo Odeberg (1928)
CHAPTER XLIV
Metatron shows R. Ishmael the abode of the wicked and the intermediate in Sheol, (vss. 1-6) The Patriarchs pray for the deliverance of Israel (vss. 7-10)
R. Ishmael said: Metatron, *the Angel, the Prince of the Presence, said to me:
(1) Come and I will show thee the spirits of the wicked ?and the spirits of the intermediate? where they are standing, and the spirits
4-4 E om. Ch. xliv. 1-1 so E. A om. 2—2 E om.
their life on earth arrives, but evidently the chamber where they are conducted just at the time when they are to enter terrestrial bodies. In this chamber they are then first ‘created’, i.e. invested with a body, a creative form, which presumably determines the individual, animal or terrestrial body they are to join. The passage, Zohar, iii. 107, referred to by Abelson, Jewish Mysticism, p. 166, could be used as a commentary on the present verse, and one can safely assume that it belongs to the same line of traditions or development of traditions: ‘‘ when the souls are about to quit their heavenly abode each soul appears before the Holy One, blessed be He, clothed with an exalted pattern (or image or form) on which are engraven the features which it will bear here below”. The GUPH is here rather the chamber containing
- the pre-existent forms or types of bodies” (Abelson’s expression, 7b. p. 165) than the abode of the spirits. The unborn spirits ‘‘ have not yet been created in the Guph”’ of creation.
It should be added that there is a certain indication here of a beginning differen- tiation of the “world of Creation’ (Beri’ä) as a form of existence different from the higher world of ‘the Throne’.
Lastly the qualifying addition ‘of the righteous’ (the GUPH of creation of the righteous) raises again the question of the distinction between righteous and non- righteous in the pre-existent state. Is there also a division in the GUPH between the compartment for the righteous and that or those for the others? Or did the original tradition maintain the existence of several GUPHs? In its strict connotation the distinction between righteous and non-righteous spirits has as a necessary corollary the distinction between different bodily forms for these two classes.
Ch. xliv. T’he preceding chapter, in so far as it dealt with the abode of the righteous dead, is in this chapter continued by a description of the two remaining classes of spirits who have left earthly life, i.e. the intermediate and the wicked. The inter- mediate undergo a purgatorial process in fire in She’ol, assisted and supported in their purification by an angel, sIMKIEL, whereas the wholly wicked are delivered to the wrath of the angel ZA’APHIEL who punishes them in Gehenna with staves of fire.
(1) the spirits of the wicked and the. . intermediate where they are standing,
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of the intermediate, whither they go down, ?and the spirits of the wicked, where they go down,
(2) And he said to me: The spirits of the wicked go down to She’ol by the hands of two angels of destruction: ZA’APHIEL and SIMKIEL are their names. (3) SIMKIEL 1s appointed over the intermediate to support them and purify them because of the great mercy of the Prince of the Place (Magóm). ZA’APHIEL is appointed over the spirits
3-3 E om.
i.e. probably at or immediately after the judgement which is daily acc. to the section on the judgement, chh. xxviii. 7-xxxiii. 2. the spirits of the intermediate whither they go down and the spirits of the wicked whither they go down, i.e. acc. to the following verses, Sheol.
(2) The spirits of the wicked (supply here, in accordance with the following verse: ‘and the spirits of the intermediate) go down to She’ol through two angels of destruction. They are sent down from the Throne of Glory, before which they have undergone judgement. For the angels of destruction see notes on chh. xxxi. 2 and xxxii. 1. The angels of destruction carry out the judgement on the wicked, and are appointed over the different compartments of Gehenna according to numerous descriptions of the punishments assigned for the wicked in Gehenna. (Cf. ‘ Descriptions of Heil’ and other translations by Gaster, RAS’s Journal (1893), further Masseket Chibbut ha-qQeber, BH.1. 150, Masseket Gehinnom, ib., i. 147-149, Gan ‘Eden we-Gehinnom, ib., v. 49 seqq., Test. R. Eliezer, Seder Yesirat ha-wWalad, ib., 1. 151-158.) They are then usually represented as numerous and as being assigned to a leadér, ‘the Prince of Gehenna’ (Gedullat Moshe, Gehenna) (cf. QEMU’EL, note on ch. xxxi, 2). Here only two angels of destruction are mentioned. The older traditions speak of two angels of destruction as executioners of the divine decrees, APH and CHEMA. The angels of destruction function at the judgement, acc. to chh. xxxi—xxiii, but represent there altogether the severe execution of judgement. Here one represents the attribute of Mercy, sIMKIEL (support of God), who is appointed over the intermediate to ‘support and purify them’ (cf. the staff of Mercy, ch. xxxi. 2).
The idea of the ‘ béndniyyim’ , the intermediate class, the large majority of those who are neither wholly righteous nor wholly wicked, belongs to “‘the orthodox Rabbinic theology” of Palestine. See Box, Ezra-Apocalypse, p. 155. The classical passages are TB. Rosh ha-shSHana, 16 b, 17 a, Tos. Sanhedrin, xiii. 3, Aboth R. Natan, xli, TB. Shab. 33 b. In Rosh ha-shSHana, 1b., it is the second dictum introduced there that is particularly apposite in this connection (‘‘ there are three divisions [companies] for the day of judgement: one that of the fully righteous, another that of the fully wicked, the third that of the intermediate. The fully righteous are immediately written down and sealed for eternal life, the fully wicked…for Gehenna, the intermediate go down into Gehenna, but when they scream in prayer [transl. of BOX] they are permitted to come up again”’ (acc. to Zech. xili.g: “And I will bring the third part through the fire… .they shall call on my name and I will hear them…) “and of them said Hanna (1 Sam. ii. 6): the Lord killeth and maketh alive (cf. ch. xviii. 24)”.
because of the great mercy of the Prince of the Place. The Place, the Magom, is the Divine Majesty. The Prince of the Place is an unusual expression. It may be a synonym for ‘Prince of the Presence’. A better reading would perhaps be obtained by substituting ‘shel’ (of) for ‘sar’ (Prince) and transl. simply: ‘because of the great mercy of the Place, i.e. the Divine Majesty’.
ZA‘APHIEL, ‘the wrath of God’. In contrast to the supporting and helping attitude shown the intermediate from the Divine Mercy, expressed by the name
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of the wicked* in order to cast them down from the presence of the Holy One, blessed be He, and from the splendour of the Shekina Sto She’ol, to be punished in the fire of Gehenna® with staves of
burning coal. (4) And I went by his side, and he took me by his hand and showed
me all of them with his fingers.
(5) And I beheld the appearance of their faces (and, lo, it was) as the appearance of children of men, and their bodies like eagles. And not only that but (furthermore) the colour of the countenance .of the intermediate was like pale grey on account of their deeds, for there are stains upon them until they have become cleaned from their iniquity in the fire.
(6) And the colour of the wicked was like the bottom of a pot on account of ®the wickedness of their doings®.
4 E: ‘intermediate’ 5-5 so E. A corr.: ‘to heat them for judgement in fire to Gehenna’ (confusion of two variant readings?). . 6-6 E: ‘the multitude of their wicked deeds’ |
SIMKIEL, “‘support of God”’, stands the attitude of merciless wrath with regard to the wicked, symbolically expressed by the name ZA‘APHIEL.
to be punished in the fire of Gehenna with staves of burning coal, prob- ably pictured similarly to the passage BH. ii. 51 (of the angels punishing the wicked in Gehenna): ‘‘angels.stand close by and with their staves drive them back into the fire and burn them”. Cf. the punishment with lashes of fire, chh. xvi. 5, xx. 2 (the word translated ‘lashes’ Rashi interprets ‘staves’).
(5) the appearance of their faces as the appearance of children of men etc. The spirits have bodily form and actual bodies—like eagles, i.e. winged. These bodies are of course different from those they were invested with in the GUPH. The spirits of the righteous, that are ‘flying above the Throne’ are probably pictured in bodies of similar form. For the souls or spirits as having bodily form cf. 1 En. xxii. 9—14 (“these hollow places have been made that the spirits of the dead might be separated…their spirits shall be set apart in this great pain…scourgings and torments of the accursed for ever’’), 4 Ez. vii. 78 seqq. (see Box, Ezra- Apocalypse, note p. 121: “‘it seems clear that they (the souls gf the unrighteous) are already endowed with bodies suitable to their altered condition… .This conception appa- rently characterizes also 2 Enoch’’). Cf. also how acc. to ch. xlvii. 4 the spirits and souls of the punished angels whose ‘manifested’ bodies have been consumed with fire, are represented as having bodily form, ‘their countenance like that of angels and their wings like those of birds’.
the colour of the countenance of the intermediate was like pale grey… (6) And the colour of the wicked was like the bottom of a pot. The sins are depicted as having tainted the spirits—originally white and pure—the intermediate being merely stained so that their original nature is still recognizable, but the wicked black ‘like the bottom of a pot’: their original character is totally blotted out. This simile presupposes the conception of the absolute purity of the pre-existent spirits, cf. note on ch. xliii. 1—2 (end).
like the bottom of a pot is used of the wicked also in Masseket Gehinnom, BH. i. 149, and Pirge Mashiach, BH. iii. 75 (“‘ their faces were black like the bottom of a pot’). As to the special sins that caused such an entire corruption there is no explicit reference here. The traditions were different on this point. TB. Baba Mesia‘, 58 b, mentions three sins that consign for ever to Gehenna (cf. the fate of
138 THE HEBREW BOOK OF ENOCH [CH. XLIV
(7) And I saw the spirits of the Patriarchs Abraham Isaac and Jacob and the rest of the righteous whom they have brought up out of their graves and who have ascended to the Heaven (Ragia‘). And they were praying before the Holy One, blessed be He, saying in
the wicked as compared with that of the intermediate), and the same is repeated in the ‘ Treatise on Hell’ which appeared in translation by Gaster, RAS’s Journal, 1893, p. 602: “(three sins cause those who commit them to go down to Gehenna and never return :) blaming one’s neighbour in public, slandering him and adultery “. Masseket Gehinnom, i. BH. i. 147, apparently follows another tradition as to the distinction between wicked and intermediate: there the full punishment—in the class of the wicked—is designed for those who cannot point to one single act of fulfilment of the Tora, “who have not one single statute in their hands”. ‘l’his corresponds with the statement, T’B. ’ Aboda Zara, 5 a: “ the fully righteous are those who have fulfilled the Tora from the beginning to the end, from ‘Aleph to Taw. The béndniyyim acc. to this view are those who have endeavoured to fulfil the Law but have failed to keep all the statutes. A third view identifies the benöniyyim with those who have kept the negative statutes only, the fully righteous with those who have kept all the positive statutes as well as the negative ones.
As to the length of the period of purification assigned for the intermediate it is probably here conceived of as proportionate to the degree in which the sins have tainted them: they are kept in the purgatory until ‘they have become cleaned from their iniquity’. Cf. the passage Rosh ha-shSHana etc. above note on vs. 2 and the transl, in Box, Ezra Apocalypse, p. 155, where it is pointed out that the béndniyyim were thought to go up after screaming in prayer for one hour, acc. to Yalqut on Zech. xiii. 9. Rashi likewise (ad loc. Rosh ha-shSHana) puts as an explanatory remark on the difficult word ‘mesafsefim’: “it means: they cry and weep in their agony for one hour and then (are permitted to) come up again”. Cf. Se‘uddath Gan ‘Eden, BH.v. 45, OM. i. 89 b: * the wicked of Israel tormented in Gehenna are brought up from Gehenna to partake in the Feast of the Righteous ”.
CH. XLIV. 7-10.
Vss, 7-10 contain an apocalyptic-eschatological fragment with the motto: ““ Israel’s deliverance is prevented by the sins of the wicked”.
The fragment does not fit in here. The theme of the chapter, acc. to vs. 1, is the conditions of the spirits of the intermediate and the wicked after death. If it had originally belonged to the exposition of the conditions of the spirits it would have had its place in ch. xliii which treats of the spirits of the righteous. But the interest of the present fragment is not focussed on the various conditions of the spirits of the dead but on the deliverance of Israel from the oppression under the ‘nations of the world’, the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth and the ‘wicked’ to which it refers are not the spirits of the wicked but the living evil-doers within Israel who through their transgressions prevent the establishment of the heavenly kingdom. Itis, moreover, probable, that this fragment represents a different outlook upon the fate of man after death from that of the preceding context (vide below).
The frame is that of the rest of the section: R. Ishmael beholds various wonders in heaven under the guidance of Metatron. It is in this respect closely related to the Apocalyptic Fragment (e.g. BH. v. 167-169): “R. Ishmael said: the Prince of the Presence said to me: sit here in my bosom and ] will tell thee what shall befall Israel etc…”. An apocalyptic fragment of similar character with Metatron, the Prince of the Presence, as informant of R. Ishmael is contained in Bodl. MICH. 175, foll. 25 b, 26 a (part of the Pirge R. Ishm.).
(7) And I saw the spirits of the Patriarchs…and the rest of the righteous who they have brought up out of their graves etc. This evidently marks the beginning of a new fragment. R. Ishmael is already shown the spirits of the righteous, acc. to ch. xliii. The expression ‘have been brought out of their
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their prayer: ‘‘Lord of the Universe! How long wilt thou sit upon (thy) Throne like a mourner in the days of his mourning with thy right hand behind thee “and not” deliver thy children and reveal thy Kingdom in the world? ®And for how long wilt thou have no? pity upon thy children who are made slaves among the nations of the world? Nor? upon thy right hand that is behind thee wherewith thou didst stretch out !? the heavens and the earth and the heavens of heavens? When wilt thou have compassion? ”
(8) Then the Holy One, blessed be He, answered every one of them, saying: ‘‘Since these wicked do sin so and so, and transgress with such and such transgressions against me, how could I deliver my great Right Hand in the downfall by their hands (caused by them)“.
(9) In that moment Metatron called me and spake to me: ‘‘ My servant! Take the books, and read their evil doings!” Forthwith I took the books and read their doings and there were to be found
7-7 E: when wilt thou’ 8-8 EF: ‘When wilt thou have’ 9 &:‘ And’ I0 E ins.: ‘and didst span’ 11 E reads: ‘(my great Right Hand) that has fallen down in the downfall at their hands’
graves and have ascended to Ragia‘’ is also suspect in this connection: it sounds as if we were here confronted with a different conception as to the fate of men after death, according to which the Patriarchs and (some of) the righteous enjoy the privilege of bodily resurrection before the final consummation.
How long wilt thou sit.. . .thy right hand behind thee. The Right Hand or the Right Arm of the Lord represent the actualization of the kingdom of God on earth, the deliverance of Israel. That the Right Hand is laid behind the Lord is a symbol of cessation in His activity for this purpose. The deliverance of the Right Hand, hence, becomes synonymous with the deliverance of Israel. Cf. ch. xlviii A. It was God’s Right Hand that stretched out the heavens and the earth, and so it must be His Right Hand that shall bring about the final establishment of the Kingdom on earth.
(8) Since these wicked do sin… how could I deliver my great Right Hand etc. The delay in the deliverance of Israel is caused by the wicked in their own ranks. That the downfall of Israel was caused by the wicked among them is a dictum attributed to R. Gamaliel II. In particular the idolatry was made responsible for the delay in the establishment of God’s Kingdom. The coming of Messiah is suspended for a period which exactly corresponds to the number of years that Israel has been worshipping idols, acc. to “Echa R. Proém. 21. Similarly, in the Apocalyptic Fragment, Bodl. MicH. 175, referred to above, R. Ishmael is repre- sented as asking for the reason of the present sufferings of Israel, whereon he is informed that the deliverance is to be suspended for a time corresponding to that of their idolatry (700 years). Here evidently—see vs. g—the ‘sins’ of the wicked comprise all ‘ transgressions of the Tora’.
‘These sinners’ was perhaps by the compiler thought to refer to the wicked of vss. 1-6, this being then one of the reasons why this fragment was given its present place.
(9) Take the books, and read their evil doings! On the conception of books recording the deeds of righteous or unrighteous etc. see note on ch. xviii. 24. The books here seem to be the records of the deeds of the wicked, cf. 1 En. Ixxxi. 4 (book of unrighteousness), ib. xcviil. 7-8 (“every sin is every day recorded in heaven—all your oppression. ..is written down every day till the day of your
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36 transgressions (written down) with regard to each wicked one “and besides, that they have transgressed!? all the letters in the Tora, as it is written (Dan. ix. 11): ‘‘ Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy Law”. It is not written ‘al torateka but ’et (NN) torateka, for they have transgressed from ’Aleph (8) to Taw (N), 409? statutes have they transgressed for each letter.
(10) Forthwith Abraham, Isaac and Jacob wept. * Then said to them the Holy One, blessed be He: “Abraham, my beloved, Isaac, my Elect one, Jacob, my firstborn! How can I now” deliver them from among the nations of the world?” And forthwith MIKAEL, the
Prince of Israel, cried and wept with a loud voice and said (Ps. x. 1): ‘“Why standest thou afar off, O Lord?”
12-12 so acc. to E. A corr. 14 Ey “36° 14 E adds: ‘to themselves’ 15-15 E:‘I cannot now?
judgement”). Since Metatron here seems to have the ‘books?’ in his charge, there must be a trace here of Metatron’s function of scribe (Chag. 15 a).
36 transgressions (written down) with regard to each wicked one… Both readings (4 and E) seem to be corrupt. The meaning seems to be: for each wicked one were recorded 36 transgressions of the Tora and in addition thereto a great many transgressions of each single letter of the Tora. from ’Aleph to Taw. Cf. Lam. R. Proëm. 24: “the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Abraham: ‘thy children have sinned and have transgressed the whole Tora and the 22 letters of Tora, as it is written (Dan. ix. 11), all Israel have transgressed thy Law’ (thus here also the passage, Dan. ïb., is used as point of support)”. The transgressing a letter of the Tora is in Lam. R. ib., understood as equivalent to the transgressing a com- mandment beginning with that letter, or vice versa. But the expression ‘from ’ Aleph to Taw’ represents the entirety of a thing, in this case the Tora, any part of which is based upon one or the other of the letters. In an absolute sense it repre- sents the entirety of things in general, and is to be compared with the expression ‘ Alpha and Omega’, Rev. i. 8. (See CHARLES, Comm. on Rev. i. 20, and Riedel in Theologische Studien und Kritiken, x901, pp. 297 seqq., both regarding the ‘ Alpha and Omega’ as an imitation of the ‘’ Aleph to Taw’.)
(10) Mikael, the Prince of Israel, cried and wept with a loud voice. This is the only passage in the present book where Mikael is explicitly referred to as the Prince of Israel. Ch. xvii. 3, Mikael is the prince of the seventh (highest) heaven. The scarce occurrence of ‘ Mikael’ (only twice) is remarkable. His position seems to have been taken over by Metatron. Ctr. the frequent reference to Mikael as the prince of Israel in 1 En. (ix. 1,x. II, xx. 5, xxiv. 6, xl. o, liv. 6, Ix. 4, 5, Ixvii. 12, lxviii. 2—4, lxix. 14 f., Ixxi. 3, 8, 9, 1 3).
For Mikael bewailing calamities that have befallen Israel, cf. Pesik. R. xliv and the parallel trait there: God answers that the deliverance is dependent upon Israel: “(the apostates of) Israel must first turn to me, even if it were only as much as the point of a needle”. Cf. also Midrash Petirath Moshe: when Sammael is about to take away Moses’ soul, Mikael “cried and wept with a loud voice”.
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