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Andrei A. Orlov

The Glorified Jacob-Israel

an excerpt from A. Orlov,From Apocalypticism to Merkabah Mysticism:

Studies in the Slavonic Pseudepigrapha(Supplements to the Journal for theStudy of Judaism, 114; Leiden !rill, "##$%

.... Scholars have previously noted that inLadderthe fiery &ace not only em'odies

od)s lory 'ut also seems to represent the heavenly counterpart of Jaco'. *1+ hey

o'serve that the 'ust of fire, la'eled inLadderas the &ace, can 'e associated -ith the

heavenly ima/e0 of Jaco' en/raved on the hrone of lory.*"+ he traditions a'out the

heavenly ima/e0 of Jaco' are present in several tar/umic *+ texts,*4+ includin/ Targum

Pseudo-Jonathan Targum !eo"iti,*2+ andFragmentary Targum.*3+

n Targ# Ps#-J#to en "5.1" the follo-in/ description can 'e found

6e *Jaco'+ had a dream, and 'ehold, a ladder -as fixed in the earth -ith its top reachin/ to-ardthe heavens ... and on that day they (an/els% ascended to the heavens on hi/h, and said, 7ome and

see Jaco' the pious, -hose ima/e is fixed (en/raved% in the hrone of lory ( )rqy ysrwkb )(ybq hylyd Nynwqy)d%, and -hom you have desired to see.*$+

A distinctive feature of this description is that the heavenly counterpart of Jaco', his

ima/e,0 is en/raved on a very special celestial entity, on theThrone o" $lory.

8n/ravin/ on the hrone mi/ht indicate an association -ith the%avodsince the hrone

is the central part of the%avodima/ery 9 the seat of the anthropomorphic lory of the

Lord. he ima/e en/raved on the hrone mi/ht 'e an allusion to the face, *5+ the fiery

face, since it is en/raved on the fiery and /lorious hrone of the lory.

!esides the tradition of en/ravin/0 on the hrone, some Je-ish materials point to

an even more radical identification of Jaco')s ima/e -ith%avod. Jarl &ossum)s

research*:+ demonstrates that in some traditions a'out Jaco')s ima/e, his ima/e0 or

lieness0 is depicted not simply as engravedon the heavenly hrone, 'ut

asseatedupon the hrone of lory.*1#+ &ossum ar/ues that this second tradition is

ori/inal. 7hristopher

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he hypothesis a'out the identification of Jaco')s ima/e and the >ivine lory

returns us a/ain to the ima/ery of od)s%avod-ith -hich, as has 'een sho-n earlier,

the &ace inLadderand ' (nochis closely associated. ............

....... 8nochic materials may also correlate the &ace of od (divine %avod% -ith the

heavenly counterpart of the visionary. n ' (noch, the &ace of the Lord seems to play animportant role in the description of 8noch)s heavenly counterpart. ' (noch:?3

depicts the patriarch -ho, durin/ his short trip to the earth, retells to his children his

earlier encounter -ith the &ace. 8noch relates

@ou, my children, you see my face, a human 'ein/ created ust lie yourselves; am one -ho has

seen the face of the Lord, lie iron made 'urnin/ hot 'y a fire, emittin/ spars. &or you /a=e into

my eyes, a human 'ein/ created ust lie yourselves; 'ut have /a=ed into the eyes of the Lord,

lie the rays of the shinin/ sun and terrifyin/ the eyes of a human 'ein/. @ou, my children, you

see my ri/ht hand 'econin/ you, a human 'ein/ created identical to yourselves; 'ut have seen

the ri/ht hand of the Lord, 'econin/ me, -ho fills heaven. @ou see the extent of my 'ody, the

same as your o-n; 'ut have seen the extent of the Lord, -ithout measure and -ithout analo/y,

-ho has no end.*1+

8noch)s description provides a series of analo/ies in -hich the earthly 8noch compares

his face and parts of his 'ody -ith the attri'utes of the Lord)s &ace and 'ody. &or this

investi/ation, ho-ever, another uxtaposition is most pertinent. t is a contrast 'et-een

the t-o identities of the visionary the earthly 8noch (a human 'ein/ created ust lie

yourselves0% and his heavenly counterpart (the one -ho has seen the &ace of od0%. t

appears that 8noch tries to descri'e himself in t-o different modes of existence as a

human 'ein/ -ho no- stands 'efore his children -ith a human face and 'ody andas the

one -ho has seen od)s &ace in the celestial realm. hese descriptions of t-o

conditions (earthly and celestial% occur repeatedly in tandem. t is possi'le that the

purpose of 8noch)s instruction to his children is not to stress the difference 'et-een his

human 'ody and the Lord)s 'ody, 'ut to emphasi=e the distinction 'et-eenthis8noch, a

human 'ein/ created ust lie yourselves,0 and the otheran/elic 8noch -ho has 'een

standin/ 'efore the Lord)s face. 8noch)s previous transformation into the /lorious one

and his initiation into Sar ha-Panimin ' (n. "".$ support this su//estion. t is unliely

that 8noch someho- completely a'andoned his supra?an/elic status and his uniBue

place 'efore the &ace of the Lord /ranted to him in the previous chapters. An account of

8noch)s permanent installation can 'e found in chapter 3 -here the Lord tells 8noch,

'efore his short visit to the earth, that a place has 'een prepared for him and that he -ill

'e in the front of Lord)s face from no) and forever.0*"+ &inally, in chapter 4,*+ 8noch

introduces himself to his children as the overnor

*4+

of the Corld.*2+

his title /ivesadditional proof for the fact that the permanent installation of 8noch?Detatron in the

heavenly offices, includin/ the office of the Erince of the Corld (Mlw(h r#%, hasalready taen place. he importance of this account for the idea of the heavenly

counterpart in ' (noch is apparent 'ecause it points to the simultaneous existence of

8noch)s an/elic dou'le installed in heaven and its human counterpart, -hom od sends

periodically on missionary errands. ar/umic and ra''inic Jaco' accounts also attest to

this vie- of the heavenly counterpart -hen they depict an/els 'eholdin/ Jaco' as one

-ho at one and the same time is installed in heaven and is sleepin/ on earth. *3+

he idea a'out the heavenly counterpart of the visionary found in ' (nochis also

present in another early 8nochic account. One of the 'oolets of * +(thiopic,(nochattests a similar tradition. Scholars have previously o'served*$+ that

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the Similitudes seem to entertain the idea of the heavenly t-in of a visionary -hen it

identifies 8noch -ith the Son of Dan.*5+ &or a lon/ time, students of the 8nochic

traditions -ere pu==led 'y the fact that the Son of Dan, -ho in previous chapters of

the Similitudeshas 'een distin/uished from 8noch, 'ecomes suddenly identified in *

(noch$1 -ith the patriarch. James FanderGam su//ests that this pu==le can 'e

explained 'y the Je-ish notion, attested in several ancient Je-ish texts, that a creatureof flesh and 'lood could have a heavenly dou'le or counterpart.*:+ o provide an

example, FanderGam points to Jaco')s traditions in -hich the patriarch)s features are

en/raved on hi/h.0*1#+ 6e stresses that this theme of the visionary)s i/norance of his

hi/her an/elic identity is o'serva'le, for example, inPrayer o" Joseph.

t is note-orthy that in the Similitudes, similarly in ' (nochandLadder,*11+ the theme

of the heavenly counterpart seems to conflate -ith the ima/ery of od)s %avod. *

(noch$12 reports that 8noch is 'rou/ht 'y Dichael to the fiery structure, surrounded

'y the rivers of livin/ fire, -hich he descri'es as a somethin/ 'uilt of crystal stones,

and in the middle of those stones ton/ues of livin/ fire.0*1"+

here is no dou't that the fiery structure0 in the Similitudes represents the hrone of

lory, -hich, in another 'oolet of * (noch, is also descri'ed as the crystal structure

issuin/ streams of fire.*1+ An explicit reference to the hrone of lory in * (n#$15,*14+ immediately after the description of the fiery crystal0 structure, maes this clear.

Similarities 'et-een * (noch$1 and ' (noch"" in the depictions of%avodand

8noch)s transformation near the hrone of lory are also apparent.

a. n 'oth accounts (* (n#$1?2 and ' (n#""3%, 8noch is 'rou/ht to the hrone 'y

archan/el Dichael.

'. An/elolo/y of the hrone in * (noch, as in ' (nochandLadder,[15]includes three

classes of an/elic 'ein/s ophanim, cheru'im and seraphim.

c. !oth 8nochic accounts spea a'out the transformation of the visionary. 8noch)s

metamorphosis in * (noch$1 recalls the description of the luminous

transformation of 8noch into a /lorious heavenly 'ein/ from ' (n#""5?:.

d. n 'oth cases, the transformation taes place in front of the fiery structure,0 a

possi'le source of 'oth transformations.

e. Studies in the past have noted that in 'oth accounts the transformation of the

visionary taes place in the context of the an/elic litur/y (' (n#"11?"".1#; *

(n#$111?1"%.*13+ he same feature is also o'serva'le inLadder".12?15.

f. n 'oth accounts 8noch falls on his face 'efore the hrone.*1$+

/. he manner in -hich 8noch is /reeted near the hrone of lory in * (n#$114?1$

evoes the scene from ' (n#""2?3, -here the Lord personally /reets 8noch. n

'oth accounts -e have an address in -hich the visionary is informed a'out his

eternal0 status.*15+

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hese features of 'oth 8nochic accounts, entertainin/ the idea of the heavenly t-in,

point to the importance of the vision of the%avodin the process of acBuirin/

no-led/e a'out the heavenly counterparts of the visionaries. t is not coincidental that

in Jaco')s tradition, -hich also attests the idea of the heavenly counterpart, the vision of

od)s /lory also 'ecomes an important theophanic motif. t is clearly reco/ni=a'le in

the tar/umic Jaco')s accounts and theLadder, -here reports a'out Jaco')s an/eliccounterpart are creatively conflated -ith theophanic traditions a'out the vision of

od)s%avod.

*1+Andersen, " 8noch,0 13.

*"+' (noch3. Andersen, " 8noch,0 131.

*+ A similar testimony can also 'e found in the passa/e of ' (nochpreserved in the Slavonic

collection of ethical -ritin/s, he Just !alance0 (Merilo Pravednoe%, in -hich the existence of '(noch-as first made pu'lic. 7f. D. H. ihomirov,Merilo Pravednoe po rukopisi ./ veka(Dosco-AH SSS

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-hite, and their clothin/, and the li/ht of their face (-as% lie sno-0 (Gni'',The (thiopic 3ook o" (noch,".132%.

*1"+Gni'',The (thiopic 3ook o" (noch, ".133.

*1+

n the3ook o" the 4atchers1415?1: the hrone of lory is also descri'ed as a crystal structuresurrounded of the rivers of fire. he reference to crystal0 structure also recalls the depiction of thehrone in 8=e. 1."3, -here it is descri'ed as a throne of sapphire (ryps%.

*14+* (n# $1$ And round a'out (-ere% the Seraphim, and the 7heru'im, and the Ophannim; these

are they -ho do not sleep, 'ut eep -atch over the throne of his /lory0 (Gni'', The (thiopic 3ook o"

(noch, ".133%.

*12+heLadder also refers to three classes of an/els, ophanim (many?eyed ones%, cheru'im and

seraphim, ri/ht after the remar a'out the hrone ...the fiery hrone of lory ... and the many?eyed

(ones% ust sa- in my dream, holdin/ the four?faced cheru'im, 'earin/ also the many?eyed seraphim0(Lunt, Ladder of Jaco',0 4#5%.

*13+&letcher?Louis,Luke-Acts, 124.

*1$+* (n# $111 And fell upon my face0 (Gni'', The (thiopic 3ook o" (noch, ".133%; ' (n# "1"

fell on my face0 (Andersen, " *Slavonic Apocalypse of+ 8noch,0 12%.

*15+* (n#$114?12 @ou are the Son of Dan -ho -as 'orn to ri/hteousness, and ri/hteousness

remains over you...and so you -ill have it for ever and for ever and ever0 (Gni'', The (thiopic 3ook o"(noch, ".133?3$%; ' (n# ""2?3 !e 'rave, 8nochM >on)t 'e fri/htenedM Stand up, and stand in front of

my face"orever0 (Andersen, " 8noch,0 15?:%.

*1+J. &ossum, The .mage o" the .nvisible $od(HOA, #; &rei'ur/ IniversitNtsverla/; ttin/en

Fandenhoec P

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*3+... And he dreamt that there -as a ladder set on the /round, -hose top reached to-ards the

heavens; and 'ehold the an/els that had accompanied him from his father)s house ascended to announce

to the an/els of the hei/hts 7ome and see the pious man, -hose ima/e is fixed to the throne of/loryQ.)0 (D. L. Glein, The Fragment-Targums o" the Pentateuch According to Their (6tant Sources*"vols.; A!, $3;