Encyclopedia Judaica

The Great Synagogue

2009-12-11T08:37:00.000-08:00

The Great Synagogue By : Wilhelm Bacher

ARTICLE HEADINGS:

Included the Last Prophets.
Their Number.
The Generation of Ezra.
Position in Tannaitic Chronology.
Institutions and Rulings.
Other Activity.

Included the Last Prophets.

The members of the Great Synagogue, or the Great Assembly, are designated in the Mishnah (Ab. i. 1) as those representatives of the Law who occupied a place in the chain of tradition between the Prophets and the earliest scholars known by name. "The Prophets transmitted the Torah to the men of the Great Synagogue. . . . Simon the Just was one of those who survived the Great Synagogue, and Antigonus of Soko received the Torah from him" (Ab. i. 1 et seq.). The first part of this statement is paraphrased as follows in Ab. R. N. i.; "Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi received from the Prophets; and the men of the Great Synagogue received from Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi." This is the reading of the first version; the second version (ed. Schechter, p. 2) reads: "The Prophets to Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi; and these to the men of the Great Synagogue." In this paraphrase the three post-exilic prophets are separated from the other prophets, for it was the task of the former to transmit the Law to the members of the Great Synagogue. It must even be assumed that these three prophets were themselves included in those members, for it is evident from the statements referring to the institution of the prayers and benedictions that the Great Synagogue included prophets.

According to R. Johanan, who wrote in the third century, "the men of the Great Synagogue instituted for Israel the benedictions and the prayers, as well as the benedictions for kiddush and habdalah" (Ber. 33a). This agrees with the sentence of R. Jeremiah (4th cent.), who states (Yer. Ber. 4d), in reference to the "Shemoneh 'Esreh," that "onehundred and twenty elders, including about eighty prophets, have instituted these prayers." These one hundred and twenty elders are undoubtedly identical with the men of the Great Synagogue. The number given of the prophets must, however, be corrected according to Meg. 17b, where the source of R. Jeremiah's statement is found: "R. Johanan said that, according to some, a baraita taught that one hundred and twenty elders, including some prophets, instituted the 'Shemoneh 'Esreh.'" Hence the prophets were in a minority in the Great Synagogue. Another statement regarding the activity of this institution alludes to the establishment of the Feast of Purim according to Esth. ix. 27 et seq., while the Babylonian Talmud (Meg. 2a) states, as a matter requiring no discussion, that the celebration of the Feast of Purim on the days mentioned in Meg. i. 1 was instituted by the men of the Great Synagogue. But in the Palestinian Talmud R. Johanan (Meg. 70d; Ruth R. ii. 4) speaks of "eighty-five elders, among them about thirty prophets."

Their Number.

These divergent statements may easily be reconciled (see Krochmal, "Moreh Nebuke ha-Zeman," p. 97) by reading, in the one passage, "beside them" () instead of "among them" (); and in the other passage, "thirty" instead of "eighty." The number eighty-five is taken from Neh. x. 2-29; but the origin of the entire number (120) is not known. It was undoubtedly assumed that the company of those mentioned in Neh. x. was increased to one hundred and twenty by the prophets who took part in the sealing of the covenant, this view, which is confirmed by Neh. vi. 7, 14, being based on the hypothesis that other prophets besides Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi were then preaching in Israel. These passages indicate that this assembly was believed to be the one described in Neh. ix.-x., and other statements regarding it prove that the Amoraim accepted this identification as a matter of course. According to Abba b. Kahana, the well-known haggadist of the latter half of the third century (Shem-Ṭob on Ps. xxxvi., end), "Two generations used the 'Shem ha-Meforesh,' the men of the Great Synagogue and the generation of the 'shemad'" (the persecution of Hadrian and the Bar Kokba war). This reference is explained in a statement by Giddel, a pupil of Rab (Yer. Meg. iii., end; Yoma 69b): "The word in Neh. viii. 6 indicates that Ezra uttered the great Tetragram in his praise of God."

The Generation of Ezra.

The combination of these two passages, which evidently have the same basis, offers another instance of the general assumption that all the members of this body were regarded as belonging to one generation, which included Ezra, while Joshua b. Levi, one of the earliest amoraim, even derived the term "Great Synagogue" from Neh. ix. 32. The authors of the prayers restored the triad of the divine attributes introduced by Moses (Deut. x. 17), although Jeremiah (xxxii. 18) and Daniel (x. 17, Hebr.) had each omitted one of the three attributes from their prayers. "The Great Assembly was so called because it gave the divine attributes their ancient 'greatness' and dignity" (Yoma 69b [with other authorities]; Yer. Ber. 11c and Meg. 74c; Shem-Ṭob on Ps. xix.; see also Ber. 33b); although this is merely a haggadic explanation of the old term, it indicates that the Amoraim did not think the Great Synagogue could be any other assembly or council than the one mentioned as the source of the prayers in Neh. ix.; and there are other examples in traditional literature evidencing this view. In Yer. Ber. 3a (Gen. R. xlvi., lxxviii.) this objection is raised in regard to a thesis of R. Levi based on Gen. xvii. 5 and referring to Neh. ix. 7: "Did not the men of the Great Synagogue call Abraham by his former name, Abram?" In the name of the men of the Great Synagogue, R. Abbahu (Gen. R. vi.) quotes the words "The heaven of heavens, with all their host" (Neh. ix. 6) as an explanation of Gen. i. 17; and the same authority is invoked in a haggadic passage by Abin (Tan., Shemot, i.) in reference to Neh. ix. 5 (ib. 2, anonymous), as well as in one by Samuel b. Naḥman (Ex. R. xli., beginning; Tan., Ki Tissa, 14) alluding to Neh. ix. 18.

R. Johanan connected the following story with Neh. x. 1-2 (Ruth R. ii. 4): "The men of the Great Synagogue wrote a document in which they voluntarily agreed to pay heave-offerings and tithes. This document they displayed in the hall of the Temple; the following morning they found the divine confirmation inscribed upon it." Since Nehemiah himself was a member, Samuel b. Marta, a pupil of Rab, quoted a phrase used by Nehemiah in his prayer (i. 7) as originating with his colleagues (Ex. R. li.; Tan., Pekude, beginning). Ezra was, of course, one of the members, and, according to Neh. viii., he was even regarded as the leader. In one of the two versions of the interpretation of Cant. vii. 14 (Lev. R. ii. 11), therefore, Ezra and his companions ("'Ezra wa-ḥaburato") are mentioned, while the other version (Cant. R. ad loc.) speaks merely of the "men of the Great Synagogue" (compare the statements made above regarding the pronunciation of the Tetragram). In the targum to Cant. vii. 3, in addition to "Ezra the priest" the men mentioned in Ezra ii. 2 as the leaders of the people returning from the Exile—Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Mordecai, and Bilshan—are designated as "men of the Great Synagogue." In the same targum (to vi. 4) the leaders of the exiles are called the "sages of the Great Synagogue."

It appears from all these passages in traditional literature that the idea of the Great Assembly was based on the narrative in Neh. viii.-x., and that, furthermore, its members were regarded as the leaders of Israel who had returned from exile and laid the foundations of the new polity connected with the Second Temple. All these men were regarded in the tannaitic chronology as belonging to one generation; for this reason the "generation of the men of the Great Synagogue" is mentioned in one of the passages already cited, this denoting, according to the chronological canon of Jose b. Ḥalafta (Seder 'Olam Rabbah xxx. [ed. Ratner, p. 141); 'Ab. Zarah 86), the generation of thirty-four years during which the Persian rule lasted, at the beginning of the period of the Second Temple. As the last prophets were still preaching during this time, they also were included. That prophecy began only at the end ofthis period, when the reign of Alexander the Great commenced, was likewise a thesis of the tannaitic chronology, which, like the canon of the thirty-four years, was adopted by the later Jewish chronologists (Seder 'Olam Rabbah l.c.; comp. Sanh. 11a), although the view occurs as early as Josephus ("Contra Ap." i., § 8).

Position in Tannaitic Chronology.

In view of these facts, it was natural that the Great Synagogue should be regarded as the connecting-link in the chain of tradition between the Prophets and the scholars. It may easily be seen, therefore, why Simon the Just should be termed a survivor of this body, for, according to the tradition current in the circle of Palestinian scholars, it was this high priest, and not his grandfather Jaddua, who met Alexander the Great, and received from him much honor (see Yoma 69a; Meg. Ta'an. for the 21st of Kislew; comp. Alexander the Great).

It is thus evident that, according to the only authority extant in regard to the subject, the tradition of the Tannaim and the Amoraim, the activity of this assembly was confined to the period of the Persian rule, and thus to the first thirty-four years of the Second Temple, and that afterward, when Simon the Just was its only survivor, there was no other fixed institution which could be regarded as a precursor of the academies. This statement does not imply, however, that such a body did not exist in the first centuries of the Second Temple, for it must be assumed that some governing council existed in those centuries as well, although the statements regarding the Great Synagogue refer exclusively to the first period. The term primarily denoted the assembly described in Neh. ix.-x., which convened principally for religious purposes—fasting, reading of the Torah, confession of sins, and prayer (Neh. ix. 1 et seq.). Since every gathering convened for religious purposes was called "keneset" (hence "bet ha-keneset" = "the synagogue"; comp. the verb "kenos," Esth. iv. 16), this term was applied also to the assembly in question; but as it was an assembly of special importance it was designated more specifically as the "great assembly" (comp. Neh. v. 7, "kehillah gedolah").

In addition to fixing the ritual observances for the first two quarters of the day (Neh. ix. 3), the Great Synagogue engaged in legislative proceedings, making laws as summarized in Neh. x. 30 et seq. Tradition therefore ascribed to it the character of a chief magistracy, and its members, or rather its leaders, including the prophets of that time, were regarded as the authors of other obligatory rules. These leaders of post-exilic Israel in the Persian period were called the "men of the Great Synagogue" because it was generally assumed that all those who then acted as leaders had been members of the memorable gathering held on the 24th of Tishri, 444 B.C. Although the assembly itself convened only on a single day, its leaders were designated in tradition as regular members of the Great Synagogue. This explains the fact that the references speak almost exclusively of the members of the Great Synagogue, the allusions to the body itself being very rare, and based in part on error, as, for example, the quotation from Ab. i. 2 which occurs in Eccl. R. xii. 11.

As certain institutions supposed to have been established in the first period of the Second Temple were ascribed to Ezra, so others of them were ascribed to the men of the Great Synagogue. There is, in fact, no difference between the two classes of institutions so far as origin is concerned. In some cases Ezra, the great scribe and the leader of the Great Synagogue, is mentioned as the author, in others the entire body is so mentioned; in all cases the body with Ezra at its head must be thought of as the real authors. In traditional literature, however, a distinction was generally drawn between the institutions of Ezra and those of the men of the Great Synagogue, so that they figured separately; but it is not surprising, after what has been said above, that in Tan., Beshallaḥ, 16, on Ex. xv. 7, the "Tikkune Soferim," called also ("Okhla we-Okhla," No. 168) "Tikkune 'Ezra" (emendations of the text of the Bible by the Soferim, or by Ezra; and according to the tannaitic source [see Bacher, "Ag. Tan." ii. 205], originally textual euphemisms), should be ascribed to the men of the Great Synagogue, since the author of the passage in question identified the Soferim (i.e., Ezra and his successors) with them.

Institutions and Rulings.

The following rulings were ascribed to the men of the Great Synagogue:

(1) They included the books of Ezekiel, Daniel, Esther, and the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Biblical canon; this is the only possible explanation of the baraita (B. B. 15a) that they "wrote" those books. The first three books, which were composed outside Palestine, had to be accepted by the men of the Great Synagogue before they could be regarded as worthy of inclusion, while the division of the Minor Prophets was completed by the works of the three post-exilic prophets, who were themselves members of that council. The same activity in regard to these books is ascribed to the men of the Great Synagogue as had been attributed to King Hezekiah and his council, including the prophet Isaiah, with regard to the three books ascribed to Solomon (see also Ab. R. N. i.) and the Book of Isaiah. It should be noted that in this baraita, as well as in the gloss upon it, Ezra and Nehemiah, "men of the Great Synagogue," are mentioned as the last Biblical writers; while according to the introduction to the Second Book of the Maccabees (ii. 13) Nehemiah also collected a number of the books of the Bible.

(2) They introduced the triple classification of the oral law, dividing the study of the Mishnah (in the larger sense) into the three branches of midrash, halakot, and haggadot, although this view, which is anonymous, conflicted with that of R. Jonah, a Palestinian amora of the fourth century, who declared that the founder of this threefold division of traditional science (see Jew. Encyc. iii. 163, s.v. Bible Exegesis) was R. Akiba (Yer. Shek. v., beginning). This view is noteworthy as showing that the later representatives of tradition traced the origin of their science to the earliest authorities, the immediate successors of the Prophets. The men of the Great Synagogue, therefore, not only completedthe canon, but introduced the scientific treatment of tradition.

(3) They introduced the Feast of Purim and determined the days on which it should be celebrated (see above).

(4) They instituted the "Shemoneh 'Esreh," as well as the benedictions and other prayers, as already noted. The tradition in regard to this point expresses the view that the synagogal prayers as well as the entire ritual were put into definite shape by the men of the Great Synagogue.

Other Activity.

The list of Biblical personages who have no part in the future world (Sanh. x. 1) was made, according to Rab, by the men of the Great Synagogue (Sanh. 104b), and a haggadic ruling on Biblical stories beginning with the phrase "Wa-yehi bayamim" (And it came to pass in those days) is designated by Johanan, or his pupil Levi, as a "tradition of the men of the Great Synagogue" (Meg. 10b). This is merely another way of saying, as is stated elsewhere (Lev. R. xi.) in reference to the same ruling, that it had been brought as a tradition from the Babylonian exile. There are references also to other haggadic traditions of this kind (see Bacher, "Ag. Tan." 2d ed., i. 192; idem, "Die Aelteste Terminologie," p. 107). Joshua b. Levi ascribes in an original way to the men of the Great Synagogue the merit of having provided for all time for the making of copies of the Bible, tefillin, and mezuzot, stating that they instituted twenty-four fasts to insure that wealth would not be acquired by copyists, who would cease to copy if they became rich (Pes. 50b). A haggadic passage by Jose b. Ḥanina refers to the names of the returning exiles mentioned in Ezra ii. 51 et seq. (Gen. R. lxxi. et passim), one version reading "the men of the Great Synagogue" instead of "sons of the Exile," or "those that returned from the Exile" ("'ole goleh"). This shows that the men of the Great Synagogue included the first generation of the Second Temple. In Esth. R. iii. 7 the congregation of the tribes mentioned in Judges xx. 1 is apparently termed "men of the Great Synagogue." This is due, however, to a corruption of the text, for, according to Luria's skilful emendation, this phrase must be read with the preceding words "Ezra and the men of the Great Synagogue"; so that the phrase corresponds to the "bene ha-golah" of Ezra x. 16.

There is, finally, a passage of three clauses, which the Mishnah (Ab. i. 12) ascribes to the men of the Great Synagogue as stated above, and which reads as follows: "Be heedful in pronouncing sentence; have many pupils; put a fence about the Torah." This aphorism, ascribed to an entire body of men, can only be interpreted as expressing their spirit and tendency, yet it must have been formulated by some individual, probably one of their number. At all events, it may be regarded as a historical and authentic statement of the dominating thought of those early leaders of post-exilic Israel who were designated in the tradition of the Palestinian schools as the men of the Great Synagogue. It must also be noted that this passage, like the majority of those given in the first chapter of Abot, is addressed to the teachers and spiritual leaders rather than to the people. These three clauses indicate the program of the scholars of the Persian period, who were regarded as one generation, and evidence their harmony with the spirit of Ezra's teaching. Their program was carried out by the Pharisees: caution in pronouncing legal sentences; watchfulness over the schools and the training of pupils; assurance of the observance of the Law by the enforcement of protective measures and rulings.

An attempt has thus been made to assign correct positions to the texts in which the men of the Great Synagogue are mentioned, and to present the views on which they are based, although no discussions can be broached regarding the views of the chroniclers and historians, or the different hypotheses and conclusions drawn from these texts concerning the history of the period of the Second Temple. For this a reference to the articles cited in the bibliography must suffice. Kuenen especially presents a good summary of the more recent theories, while L. Löw (who is not mentioned by Kuenen) expresses views totally divergent from those generally held with regard to the Great Synagogue; this body he takes to be the assembly described in I Macc. xiv. 25-26, which made Simeon the Hasmonean a hereditary prince (18th of Elul, 140 B.C.E.).

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Esther

2009-12-11T06:30:00.000-08:00

ESTHER By : Emil G. Hirsch John Dyneley Prince Solomon Schechter

ARTICLE HEADINGS:

—Biblical Data:

Haman and Mordecai.

—In Rabbinical Literature:

The Rabbinic Account.
Mordecai and Esther.
Esther Before Ahasuerus.

—Critical View:

Improbabilities of the Story.
Probable Date.

Name of the chief character in the Book of Esther, derived, according to some authorities, from the Persian "stara" (star); but regarded by others as a modification of "Ishtar," the name of the Babylonian goddess (see below).

—Biblical Data:

The story of Esther, as given in the book bearing her name, is as follows: The King of Persia, Ahasuerus, had deposed his queen Vashti because she refused, during a festival, toshow at his command her charms before the assembled princes of the realm (i. 10). Many beautiful maidens were then brought before the king in order that he might choose a successor to the unruly Vashti. He selected Esther as by far the most comely. The heroine is represented as an orphan daughter of the tribe of Benjamin, who had spent her life among the Jewish exiles in Persia (ii. 5), where she lived under the protection of her cousin Mordecai. The grand vizier, Haman the Agagite, commanded Mordecai to do obeisance to him. Upon Mordecai's refusal to prostrate himself, Haman informed the king that the Jews were a useless and turbulent people and inclined to disloyalty, and he promised to pay 10,000 silver talents into the royal treasury for the permission to pillage and exterminate this alien race. The king then issued a proclamation ordering the confiscation of Jewish property and a general extermination of all the Jews within the empire. Haman set by lot the day for this outrage (iii. 6), but Mordecai persuaded Esther to undertake the deliverance of her compatriots.

Haman and Mordecai.

After a three days' fast observed by the entire Jewish community, the queen, at great personal risk, decided to go before the king and beg him to rescind his decree (iv. 16). Ahasuerus, delighted with her appearance, held out to her his scepter in token of clemency, and promised to dine with her in her own apartments on two successive nights (v. 2-8). On the night before the second banquet, when Esther intended to make her petition, the king, being sleepless, commanded that the national records be read to, him. The part which was read touched upon the valuable services of Mordecai (vi. 1 et seq.), who some time before had discovered and revealed to the queen a plot against the king's life devised by two of the chamberlains (ii. 23). For this, by some unexplained oversight, Mordecai had received no reward. In the meantime the queen had invited the grand vizier to the banquet. When Haman, who was much pleased at the unusual honor shown him by the queen, appeared before the king to ask permission to execute Mordecai at once, Ahasuerus asked him, "What shall be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honor?" Haman, thinking that the allusion was to himself, suggested a magnificent pageant, at which one of the great nobles should serve as attendant (vi. 9). The king immediately adopted the suggestion, and ordered Haman to act as chief follower in a procession in honor of Mordecai (vi. 10).

The next day at the banquet, when Esther preferred her request, both the king and the grand vizier learned for the first time that the queen was a Jewess. Ahasuerus granted her petition at once and ordered that Haman be hanged on the gibbet which the latter had prepared for his adversary Mordecai (vii.). Mordecai was then made grand vizier, and through his and Esther's intervention another edict was issued granting to the Jews the power to pillage and to slay their enemies.

Before the day set for the slaughter arrived a great number of persons, in order to avoid the impending disaster, became Jewish proselytes, and a great terror of the Jews spread all over Persia (viii. 17).
(see image) Traditional Tomb of Esther and Mordecai.(From Flandin and Coste, "Voyage en Perse.")

The Jews, assisted by the royal officers, who feared the king, were eminently successful in slaying their enemies (ix. 11), but refused to avail themselves of their right to plunder (ix. 16). The queen, not content with a single day's slaughter, then requested the king to grant to her people a second day of vengeance, and begged that the bodies of Haman's ten sons, who had been slain in the fray, be hanged on the gibbet (ix. 13). Esther and Mordecai, acting with "all authority" (ix. 29), then founded the yearly feast of Purim, held on the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar as a joyous commemoration of the deliverance of their race.E. G. H. J. D. P.

—In Rabbinical Literature:

The story of Esther—typical in many regards of the perennial fate of the Jews, and recalled even more vividly by their daily experience than by the annual reading of theMegillah at Purim—invited, both by the brevity of some parts of the narrative and by the associations of its events with the bitter lot of Israel, amplifications readily supplied by popular fancy and the artificial interpretation of Biblical verse. The additions to Esther in the (Greek) Apocrypha have their counterparts in the post-Biblical literature of the Jews, and while it is certain that the old assumption of a Hebrew original for the additions in the Greek Book of Esther is not tenable (see Kautzsch, "Die Apocryphen und Pseudepigraphen des Alten Testaments," i. 194), it is not clear that the later Jewish amplifications are adaptations of Greek originals.

The following post-Biblical writings have to be considered:

(1) The first Targum. The Antwerp and Paris polyglots give a different and longer text than the London. The best edition is by De Lagarde (reprinted from the first Venice Bible) in "Hagiographa Chaldaice," Leipsic, 1873. The date of the first Targum is about 700 (see S. Posner, "Das Targum Rishon," Breslau, 1896).

(2) Targum Sheni (the second; date about 800), containing material not germane to the Esther story. This may be characterized as a genuine and exuberant midrash. Edited by De Lagarde (in "Hagiographa Chaldaice," Berlin, 1873) and by P. Cassel ("Aus Literatur und Geschichte," Berlin and Leipsic, 1885, and "Das Buch Esther," Berlin, 1891, Ger. transl.).

(3) Babylonian Talmud, Meg. 10b-14a.

(4) Pirke R. El. 49a, 50 (8th cent.).

(5) Yosippon (beginning of 10th cent.; see Zunz, "G. V." pp. 264 et seq.).

(6) Midr. R. to Esther (probably 11th cent.).

(7) Midr. Lekah Tob (Buber, "Sifre di-Agadta," Wilna, 1880).

(8) Midr. Abba Gorion (Buber, l.c.; Jellinek, "B. H." i. 1-18).

(9) Midr. Teh. to Ps. xxii.

(10) Midr. Megillat Esther (ed. by Horwitz in his "Sammlung Kleiner Midrashim," Berlin, 1881).

(11) helma de Mordekai (Aramaic: Jellinek, "B. H." v. 1-8; De Lagarde, l.c. pp. 362-365; Ad. Merx, "Chrestomathia Targumica," 1888, pp. 154 et seq.).

(12) Yalk. Shim'oni to Esther.

The Rabbinic Account.

With the omission of what more properly belongs under Ahasuerus, Haman, and Mordecai, the following is briefly the story of Esther's life as elaborated by these various midrashim: A foundling or an orphan, her father dying before her birth, her mother at her birth, Esther was reared in the house of Mordecai, her cousin, to whom, according to some accounts, she was even married (the word , Esth. ii. 7, being equal to = "house," which is frequently used for "wife" in rabbinic literature). Her original name was "Hadassah" (myrtle), that of "Esther" being given her by the star-worshipers, as reflecting her sweet character and the comeliness of her person. When the edict of the king was promulgated, and his eunuchs scoured the country in search of a new wife for the monarch, Esther, acting on her own judgment or upon the order of Mordecai, hid herself so as not to be seen of men, and remained in seclusion for four years, until even God's voice urged her to repair to the king's palace, where her absence had been noticed. Her appearance among the candidates for the queen's vacant place causes a commotion, all feeling that with her charms none can compete; her rivals even make haste to adorn her. She spurns the usual resources for enhancing her beauty, so that the keeper of the harem becomes alarmed lest he be accused of neglect. He therefore showers attentions upon her, and places at her disposal riches never given to others. But she will not be tempted to use the king's goods, nor will she eat of the king's food, being a faithful Jewess; together with her maids (seven, according to the number of the week-days and of the planets) she continues her modest mode of living. When her turn comes to be ushered into the royal presence, Median and Persian women flank her on both sides, but her beauty is such that the decision in her favor is at once assured. The king has been in the habit of comparing the charms of the applicants with a picture of Vashti suspended over his couch, and up to the time when Esther approaches him none has eclipsed the beauty of his beheaded spouse. But at the sight of Esther he at once removes the picture. Esther, true to Mordecai's injunction, conceals her birth from her royal consort. Mordecai was prompted to give her this command by the desire not to win favors as Esther's cousin. The king, of course, is very desirous of learning all about her antecedents, but Esther, after vouchsafing him the information that she, too, is of princely blood, turns the conversation, by a few happy counter-questions regarding Vashti, in a way to leave the king's curiosity unsatisfied.

Mordecai and Esther.

Still Ahasuerus will not be baffled. Consulting Mordecai, he endeavors to arouse Esther's jealousy—thinking that this will loosen her tongue—by again gathering maidens in his courtyard, as though he is ready to mete out to her the fate of her unfortunate predecessor. But even under this provocation Esther preserves her silence. Mordecai's daily visits to the courtyard are for the purpose of ascertaining whether Esther has remained true to the precepts of her religion. She had not eaten forbidden food, preferring a diet of vegetables, and had otherwise scrupulously observed the Law. When the crisis came Mordecai—who had, by his refusal to bow to Haman or, rather, to the image of an idol ostentatiously displayed on his breast (Pirke R. El. lxix.), brought calamity upon the Jews—appeared in his mourning garments, and Esther, frightened, gave birth to a still-born child. To avoid gossip she sent Hatach instead of going herself to ascertain the cause of the trouble. This Hatach was afterward met by Haman and slain. Still Mordecai had been able to tell Hatach his dream, that Esther would be the little rill of water separating the two fighting monsters, and that the rill would grow to be a large stream flooding the earth—a dream he had often related to her in her youth.

Esther Before Ahasuerus.

Mordecai called upon her to pray for her people and then intercede with the king. Though Pesah was near, and the provision of Megillat Ta'anit forbidding fasting during this time could not be observed without disregarding Mordecai's plea, she overcame her cousin's scruples by a very apt counter-question, and at her request all the Jews "that had on that day already partaken of food" observed a rigid fast, in spite of (Esth. iv. 17) the feast-day (Pesah), while Mordecai prayed and summoned the children and obliged even them to abstain from food, so that they cried out with loud voices. Esther in the meantime put aside her jewels and rich dresses, loosenedher hair, fasted, and prayed that she might be successful in her dangerous errand. On the third day, with serene mien she passed on to the inner court, arraying herself (or arrayed by the "Holy Ghost," Esth. Rabbah) in her best, and taking her two maids, upon one of whom, according to court etiquette, she leaned, while the other carried her train. As soon as she came abreast with the idols (perhaps an anti-Christian insinuation) the "Holy Ghost" departed from her, so that she exclaimed, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Ps. xxii. 1); thereupon, repenting having called the enemy "dog," she now named him "lion," and was accompanied by three angels to the king. Ahasuerus attempted to ignore her, and turned his face away, but an angel forced him to look at her. She, however, fainted at the sight of his flushed face and burning eyes, and leaned her head on her handmaid, expecting to hear her doom pronounced; but God increased her beauty to such an extent that Ahasuerus could not resist. An angel lengthened the scepter so that Esther might touch it: she invited the king to her banquet. Why Haman was invited the Rabbis explain in various ways. She desired to make the king jealous by playing the lover to Haman, which she did at the feast, planning to have him killed even though she should share his fate. At the supreme moment, when she denounced Haman, it was an angel that threw Haman on the couch, though he intended to kneel before the queen; so that the king, suspecting an attempt upon the virtue and life of his queen, forthwith ordered him to be hanged.

To the Rabbis Esther is one of the four most beautiful women ever created. She remained eternally young; when she married Ahasuerus she was at least forty years of age, or even, according to some, eighty years (ה = 5, ם = 60, ד = 4, ה = 5 = 74 years; hence her name "Hadassah"). She is also counted among the prophetesses of Israel.
(see image) Scrolls Of Esther In Silver Cases.(In the United States National Museum, Washington, D. C.)S. S. E. G. H.

—Critical View:

As to the historical value of the foregoing data, opinions differ. Comparatively few modern scholars of note consider the narrative of Esther to rest on an historical foundation. The most important names among the more recent defenders of the historicity of the book are perhaps Hävernick, Keil, Oppert, and Orelli. The vast majority of modern expositors have reached the conclusionthat the book is a piece of pure fiction, although some writers qualify their criticism by an attempt to treat it as a historical romance. The following are the chief arguments showing the impossibility of the story of Esther:

Improbabilities of the Story.

1. It is now generally recognized that the Ahasuerus (), mentioned in Esther, in Ezra iv. 6, and in Dan. ix. 1, is identical with the Persian king known as Xerxes (Ξέρζης, "Khshayarha"), who reigned from 485 to 464 B.C.; but it is impossible to find any historical parallel for a Jewish consort to this king. Some critics formerly identified Esther with Amastris (Ionic, "Amestris"), who is mentioned by Herodotus (viii. 114, ix. 110; compare Ctesias, 20) as the queen of Xerxes at the time when Esther, according to Esth. ii. 6, became the wife of Ahasuerus. Amastris, however, was the daughter of a Persian general and, therefore, not a Jewess. Furthermore, the facts of Amastris' reign do not agree with the Biblical story of Esther. Besides all this, it is impossible to connect the two names etymologically. M'Clymont (Hastings, "Dict. Bible," i. 772) thinks it possible that Esther and Vashti may have been merely the chief favorites of the harem, and are consequently not mentioned in parallel historical accounts.

It is very doubtful whether the haughty Persian aristocracy, always highly influential with the monarch, would have tolerated the choice of a Jewish queen and a Jewish prime minister (Mordecai), to the exclusion of their own class—not to speak of the improbability of the prime ministry of Haman the Agagite, who preceded Mordecai. "Agagite" can only be interpreted here as synonymous with "Amalekite" (compare "Agag," king of the Amalekites, the foe of Saul, I Sam. xv. 8, 20, 32; Num. xxiv. 7; see Agag). Oppert's attempt to connect the term "Agagite" with "Agaz," a Median tribe mentioned by Sargon, can not be taken seriously. The term, as applied to Haman, is a gross anachronism; and the author of Esther no doubt used it intentionally as a fitting name for an enemy of Israel. In the Greek version of Esther, Haman is called a Macedonian.

2. Perhaps the most striking point against the historical value of the Book of Esther is the remarkable decree permitting the Jews to massacre their enemies and fellow subjects during a period of two days. If such an extraordinary event had actually taken place, should not some confirmation of the Biblical account have been found in other records? Again, could the king have withstood the attitude of the native nobles, who would hardly have looked upon such an occurrence without offering armed resistance to their feeble and capricious sovereign? A similar objection may be made against the probability of the first edict permitting Haman the Amalekite to massacre all the Jews. Would there not be some confirmation of it in parallel records? This whole section bears the stamp of free invention.

3. Extraordinary also is the statement that Esther did not reveal her Jewish origin when she was chosen queen (ii. 10), although it was known that she came from the house of Mordecai, who was a professing Jew (iii. 4), and that she maintained a constant communication with him from the harem (iv. 4-17).

4. Hardly less striking is the description of the Jews by Haman as being "dispersed among the people in all provinces of thy kingdom" and as disobedient "to the king's laws" (iii. 8). This certainly applies more to the Greek than to the Persian period, in which the Diaspora had not yet begun and during which there is no record of rebellious tendencies on the part of the Jews against the royal authority.

5. Finally, in this connection, the author's knowledge of Persian customs is not in keeping with contemporary records. The chief conflicting points are as follows:

(a) Mordecai was permitted free access to his cousin in the harem, a state of affairs wholly at variance with Oriental usage, both ancient and modern.

(b) The queen could not send a message to her own husband (!).

(c) The division of the empire into 127 provinces contrasts strangely with the twenty historical Persian satrapies.

(d) The fact that Haman tolerated for a long time Mordecai's refusal to do obeisance is hardly in accordance with the customs of the East. Any native venturing to stand in the presence of a Turkish grand vizier would certainly be severely dealt with without delay.

(e) This very refusal of Mordecai to prostrate himself belongs rather to the Greek than to the earlier Oriental period, when such an act would have involved no personal degradation (compare Gen. xxiii. 7, xxxiii. 3; Herodotus, vii. 136).

(f) Most of the proper names in Esther which are given as Persian appear to be rather of Semitic than of Iranian origin, in spite of Oppert's attempt to explain many of them from the Persian (compare, however, Scheftelowitz, "Arisches im Alten Testament," 1901, i.).

Probable Date.

In view of all the evidence the authority of the Book of Esther as a historical record must be definitely rejected. Its position in the canon among the Hagiographa or "Ketubim" is the only thing which has induced Orthodox scholars to defend its historical character at all. Even the Jews of the first and second centuries of the common era questioned its right to be included among the canonical books of the Bible (compare Meg. 7a). The author makes no mention whatever of God, to whom, in all the other books of the Old Testament, the deliverance of Israel is ascribed. The only allusion in Esther to religion is the mention of fasting (iv. 16, ix. 31). All this agrees with the theory of a late origin for the book, as it is known, for example, from Ecclesiastes, that the religious spirit had degenerated even in Judea in the Greek period, to which Esther, like Daniel, in all probability belongs.

Esther could hardly have been written by a contemporary of the Persian empire, because (1) of the exaggerated way in which not only the splendor of the court, but all the events described, are treated (compare the twelve months spent by the maidens in adorning themselves for the king; the feasts of 187 days, etc., all of which point rather to the past than to a contemporary state of affairs); (2) the uncomplimentary details given about a great Persian king, who is mentioned by name, would not have appeared during his dynasty.

It is difficult to go so far as Grätz, who assignsEsther to an adherent of the Maccabean party in the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes. The vast difference in religious and moral tone between Esther and Daniel—the latter a true product of Antiochus' reign—seems to make such a theory impossible. Nor is the view of Jensen, followed by Nöldeke, more convincing to the unprejudiced mind. He endeavors to prove that the origin of the whole story lies in a Babylonian-Elamitic myth. He identifies Esther with the Babylonian goddess Ishtar (Aphrodite); Mordecai with Marduk, the tutelary deity of Babylon; and Haman with Hamman or Humman, the chief god of the Elamites, in whose capital, Susa, the scene is laid; while Vashti is also supposed to be an Elamite deity. Jensen considers that the Feast of Purim, which is the climax of the book, may have been adapted from a similar Babylonian festival by the Jews, who Hebraized the original Babylonian legend regarding the origin of the ceremonies. The great objection to such a theory is that no Babylonian festival corresponding with the full moon of the twelfth month is known.

The object of Esther is undoubtedly to give an explanation of and to exalt the Feast of Purim, of whose real origin little or nothing is known. See Megillah; Purim.

Moses

2009-11-15T09:58:00.000-08:00

MOSES. By : Joseph Jacobs George A. Barton Wilhelm Bacher Jacob Zallel Lauterbach Crawford Howell Toy Kaufmann Kohler

ARTICLE HEADINGS:

—Biblical Data:

In the Wilderness.
Death of Moses.

—In Rabbinical Literature:

The Beginnings.
Pharaoh's Daughter.
His Bringing up.
Removes Pharaoh's Crown.
Flees from Egypt.
King in Ethiopia.
Relations with Jethro.
The Circumcision of Gershom.
At the Burning Bush.
Before Pharaoh.
At the Exodus.
Receives the Torah.
Worship of the Golden Calf.
Moses and Israel.
In the Tabernacle.
Personal Qualities.
His Prophetic Powers.
Can Not Enter the Promised Land.
Moses Strikes the Rock.
At Aaron's Death.
Death of Moses.
Wishes to Avoid Death.
Moses in the Jahvist.
—Critical View:
Moses in the Elohist.
In the Priestly Code.
Moses and Sargon.
Name.
Founder of the Israelitish Nation.

—In Hellenistic Literature:

Moses' Preexistence.

—Biblical Data:

The birth of Moses occurred at a time when Pharaoh had commanded that all male children born to Hebrew captives should be thrown into the Nile (Ex. ii.; comp. i.). Jochebed, the wife of the Levite Amram, bore a son, and kept the child concealed for three months. When she could keep him hidden no longer, rather than deliver him to death she set him adrift on the Nile in an ark of bulrushes. The daughter of Pharaoh, coming opportunely to the river to bathe, discovered the babe, was attracted to him, adopted him as her son, and named him "Moses." Thus it came about that the future deliverer of Israel was reared as the son of an Egyptian princess (Ex. ii. 1-10).

When Moses was grown to manhood, he went one day to see how it fared with his brethren, bondmen to the Egyptians. Seeing an Egyptian maltreating a Hebrew, he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand, supposing that no one who would be disposed to reveal the matter knew of it. The next day, seeing two Hebrews quarreling, he endeavored to separate them, whereupon the Hebrew who was wronging his brother taunted Moses with slaying the Egyptian. Moses soon discovered from a higher source that the affair was known, and that Pharaoh was likely to put him to death for it; he therefore made his escape to the Sinaitic Peninsula and settled with Hobab, or Jethro, priest of Midian, whose daughter Zipporah he in due time married. There he sojourned forty years, following the occupation of a shepherd, during which time his son Gershom was born (Ex. ii., 11-22).

One day, as Moses led his flock to Mount Horeb, he saw a bush burning but without being consumed. When he turned aside to look more closely at the marvel, Yhwh spoke to him from the bush and commissioned him to return to Egypt and deliver his brethren from their bondage (Ex. iii. 1-10). According to Ex. iii. 13 et seq., it was at this time that the name of Yhwh was revealed, though it is frequently used throughout the patriarchal narratives, from the second chapter of Genesis on. Armed with this new name and with certain signs which he could give in attestation of his mission, he returned to Egypt (Ex. iv. 1-9, 20). On the way he was met by Yhwh, who would have killed him; but Zipporah, Moses' wife, circumcised her son and Yhwh's anger abated (Ex. iv. 24-26). Moses was met and assisted on his arrival in Egypt by his elder brother, Aaron, and readily gained a hearing with his oppressed brethren (Ex. iv. 27-31). It was a more difficult matter, however, to persuade Pharaoh to let the Hebrews depart. Indeed, this was not accomplished until, through the agency of Moses, ten plagues had come upon the Egyptians (Ex. vii.-xii.). These plagues culminated in the slaying of the Egyptian first-born (Ex. xii. 29), whereupon such terror seized the Egyptians that they urged the Hebrews to leave.

In the Wilderness.

The children of Israel, with their flocks and herds, started toward the eastern border at the southern part of the Isthmus of Suez. The long procession moved slowly, and found it necessary to encamp three times before passing the Egyptian frontier at the Bitter Lakes. Meanwhile Pharaoh had repented and was in pursuit of them with a large army (Ex. xiv. 5-9). Shut in between this army and the Red Sea, or the Bitter Lakes, which were then connected with it, the Israelites despaired, but Yhwh divided the waters of the sea so that they passed safely across; when the Egyptians attempted to follow, He permitted the waters to return upon them and drown them (Ex. xiv. 10-31). Moses led the Hebrews to Sinai, or Horeb, where Jethro celebrated their coming by a great sacrifice in the presence of Moses, Aaron, and the elders of Israel (Ex. xviii.). At Horeb, or Sinai, Yhwh welcomed Moses upon the sacred mountain and talked with him face to face (Ex. xix.). He gave him the Ten Commandments and the Law and entered into a covenant with Israel through him. This covenant bound Yhwh to be Israel's God, if Israel would keep His commandments (Ex. xix. et seq.).
(see image) Moses on Mount Sinai.(From the Sarajevo Haggadah of the fourteenth century.)Moses and the Israelites sojourned at Sinai about a year (comp. Num. x. 11), and Moses had frequent communications from Yhwh. As a result of these the Tabernacle, according to the last chapters of Exodus, was constructed, the priestly law ordained, the plan of encampment arranged both for the Levites and the non-priestly tribes (comp. Num. i. 50-ii. 34), and the Tabernacle consecrated. While at Sinai Joshua had become general of the armies of Israel and the special minister, or assistant, of Moses (Ex. xvii. 9). From Sinai Moses led the people to Kadesh, whence the spies were sent to Canaan. Upon the return of the spies the people were so discouraged by their report that they refused to go forward, and were condemned to remain in the wilderness until that generation had passed away (Num. xiii.-xiv.).

After the lapse of thirty-eight years Moses led the people eastward. Having gained friendly permission to do so, they passed through the territory of Esau (where Aaron died, on Mount Hor; Num. xx. 22-29), and then, by a similar arrangement, through the land of Moab. But Sihon, king of the Amorites, whose capital was at Heshbon, refused permission, and was conquered by Moses, who allotted his territory to the tribes of Reuben and Gad. Og, King of Bashan, was similarly overthrown (comp. Num. xxi.), and his territory assigned to the half-tribe of Manasseh.

Death of Moses.

After all this was accomplished Moses was warned that he would not be permitted to lead Israel across the Jordan, but would die on the eastern side (Num. xx. 12). He therefore assembled the tribes and delivered to them a parting address, which forms the Book of Deuteronomy. In this address it is commonly supposed that he recapitulated the Law, reminding them of its most important features. When this was finished, and he had pronounced a blessing upon the people, he went up Mount Nebo to the top of Pisgah, looked over the country spread out before him, and died, at the age of one hundred and twenty. Yhwh Himself buried him in an unknown grave (Deut. xxxiv.). Moses was thus the human instrument in the creation of the Israelitish nation; he communicated to it all its laws. More meek than any other man (Num. xii. 3), he enjoyed unique privileges, for "there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face" (Deut. xxxiv. 10).J. G. A. B.

—In Rabbinical Literature:

Of all Biblical personages Moses has been chosen most frequently as the subject of later legends; and his life has been recounted in full detail in the poetic haggadah. As liberator, lawgiver, and leader of a people which was transformed by him from an unorganized horde into a nation, he occupies a more important place in popular legend than the Patriarchs and all the other national heroes. His many-sided activity also offered more abundant scope for imaginative embellishment. A cycle of legends has been woven around nearly every trait of his character and every event of his life; and groups of the most different and often contradictory stories have been connected with his career. It would be interesting to investigate the origin of the different cycles, and the relation of the several cycles to one another and to the original source, if there was one. The present article attempts to give, without claiming completeness, a picture of the character of Moses according to Jewish legend and a narrative of the most important incidents of his life.
(see image) Traditional Tomb of Moses: Scene During a Pilgrimage.(From a photograph by the American Colony, Jerusalem.)

(The following special abbreviations of book-titles are used: "D. Y." = "Dibre ha-Yamim le-Mosheh Rabbenu," in Jellinek, "B. H." ii.; "S. Y." = "Sefer ha-Yashar"; "M. W." = "Midrash Wayosha'," in Jellinek, l.c.)

The Beginnings.

Moses' influence and activity reach back to the days of the Creation. Heaven and earth were created only for his sake (Lev. R. xxxvi. 4). The account of the creation of the water on the second day (Gen. i. 6-8), therefore, does not close with the usual formula, "And God saw that it was good," because God foresaw that Moses would sufferthrough water (Gen. R. iv. 8). Although Noah was not worthy to be saved from the Flood, yet he was saved because Moses was destined to descend from him (ib. xxvi. 15). The angels which Jacob in his nocturnal vision saw ascending to and descending from heaven (Gen. vii. 12) were really Moses and Aaron (Gen. R. lxviii. 16). The birth of Moses as the liberator of the people of Israel was foretold to Pharaoh by his soothsayers, in consequence of which he issued the cruel command to cast all the male children into the river (Ex. i. 22). Later on Miriam also foretold to her father, Amram, that a son would be born to him who would liberate Israel from the yoke of Egypt (Sotah 11b, 12a; Meg. 14a; Ex. R. i. 24; "S. Y.," Shemot, pp. 111a, 112b; comp. Josephus, "Ant." ii. 9, § 3). Moses was born on Adar 7 (Meg. 13b) in the year 2377 after the creation of the world (Book of Jubilees, xlvii. 1). He was born circumcised (Sotah 12a), and was able to walk immediately after his birth (Yalk., Wayelek, 940); but according to another story he was circumcised on the eighth day after birth (Pirke R. El. xlviii.). A peculiar and glorious light filled the entire house at his birth (ib.; "S. Y." p. 112b), indicating that he was worthy of the gift of prophecy (Sotah l.c.). He spoke with his father and mother on the day of his birth, and prophesied at the age of three (Midr. Petirat Mosheh, in Jellinek, "B. H." i. 128). His mother kept his birth secret for three months, when Pharaoh was informed that she had borne a son. The mother put the child into a casket, which she hid among the reeds of the sea before the king's officers came to her (Jubilees, l.c. 47; "D. Y." in Jellinek, "B. H." ii. 3; "S. Y." p. 112b). For seven days his mother went to him at night to nurse him, his sister Miriam protecting him from the birds by day (Jubilees, l.c. 4).

Pharaoh's Daughter.

Then God sent a fierce heat upon Egypt ("D. Y." l.c.), and Pharaoh's daughter Bithiah (comp. I. Chron. iv. 18; Tarmut [Thermutis], according to Josephus, l.c. and Jubilees, l.c.), who was afflicted with leprosy, went to bathe in the river. Hearing a child cry, she beheld a casket in the reeds. She caused it to be brought to her, and on touching it was cured of her leprosy (Ex. R. i. 27). For this reason she was kindly disposed toward the child. When she opened the casket she was astonished at his beauty (Philo, "Vita Mosis," ii.), and saw the Shekinah with him (Ex. R. i. 28). Noticing that the child was circumcised, she knew that the parents must have been Hebrews (Sotah 12b). Gabriel struck Moses, so as to make him cry and arouse the pity of the princess (Ex. R. i. 28). She wished to save the child; but as her maids told her she must not transgress her father's commands, she set him down again (Midr. Abkir, in Yalk., Ex. 166). Then Gabriel threw all her maids down (Sotah 12b; Ex. R. i. 27); and God filled Bithiah with compassion (Yalk., l.c.), and caused the child to find favor in her eyes ("M. W." in Jellinek, l.c. i. 41). Thereupon she took the child up, saved him, and loved him much (Ex. R. l.c.). This was on the sixth day of the month of Siwan (Sotah 12b); according to another version, on Nisan 21 (ib.). When the soothsayers told Pharaoh that the redeemer of Israel had been born and thrown into the water, the cruel edict ordering that the children be thrown into the river was repealed (Ex. R. i. 29; Sotah l.c.). Thus the casting away of Moses saved Israel from further persecution. According to another version (Gen. R. xcvii. 5),600,000 children had already been thrown into the river, but all were saved because of Moses.

His Bringing up.

Bithiah, Pharaoh's daughter, took up the child to nurse him; but he refused the breast ("M. W." l.c.). Then she gave him to other Egyptian women to nurse, but he refused to take nourishment from any of them (Josephus, l.c. ii. 9, § 5; "S. Y." p. 112b; Sotah 12b; "D. Y." p. 3). The mouth which was destined to speak with God might not take unclean milk (Sotah l.c.; "D. Y." l.c.); Bithiah therefore gave him to his mother to nurse. Another legend says that he did not take any milk from the breast (Yalk., Wayelek, 940). Bithiah then adopted him as her son ("S. Y." p. 113b). Aside from the name "Moses," which Bithiah gave to him (Ex. ii. 10), he had seven (Lev. R. i. 3), or according to other stories ten, other names given to him by his mother, his father, his brother Aaron, his sister Miriam, his nurse, his grandfather Kehat, and Israel ("D. Y." p. 3; "S. Y." p. 112b; Meg. 13a). These names were: Jared, Abi Gedor, Heber, Abi Soko, Jekuthiel, Abi Zanoah, and Shemaiah ("Shama 'Yah" = "God has heard"), the last one being given to him by Israel. He was also called "Heman" ([i.e., ; Num. xii. 7] B. B. 15a).

Removes Pharaoh's Crown.

Moses was a very large child at the age of three (Ex. R. i. 32; comp. Josephus; l.c.; Philo, l.c.); and it was at this time that, sitting at the king's table in the presence of several princes and counselors, he took the crown from Pharaoh's head and placed it on his own ("D. Y." l.c.; for another version see "M. W." l.c.). The princes were horrified at the boy's act; and the soothsayer said that this was the same boy who, in accordance with their former predictions, would destroy the kingdom of Pharaoh and liberate Israel (Josephus, l.c.; "M. W." l.c.). Balaam and Jethro were at that time also among the king's counselors (Sotah 11a; Sanh. 106). Balaam advised the king to kill the boy at once; but Jethro (according to "D. Y." l.c., it was Gabriel in the guise of one of the king's counselors) said that the boy should first be examined, to see whether he had sense enough to have done such an act intentionally. All agreed with this advice. A shining piece of gold, or a precious stone, together with a live coal, was placed on a plate before the boy, to see which of the two he would choose. The angel Gabriel then guided his hand to the coal, which he took up and put into his mouth. This burned his tongue, causing him to stutter (comp. Ex. iv. 10); but it saved his life ("M. W." l.c.; "D. Y." l.c.; "S. Y." l.c.; Ex. R. i. 31).

Moses remained in Pharaoh's house fifteen years longer ("D. Y." l.c.; "M. W." l.c.). According to the Book of Jubilees (l.c.), he learned the writing of the Assyrians (the "Ketab Ashurit"; the square script ?) from his father, Amram. During his sojourn in the king's palace he often went to his brethren, the slaves of Pharaoh, sharing their sad lot. Hehelped any one who bore a too heavy burden or was too weak for his work. He reminded Pharaoh that a slave was entitled to some rest, and begged him to grant the Israelites one free day in the week. Pharaoh acceded to this request, and Moses accordingly instituted the seventh day, the Sabbath, as a day of rest for the Israelites (Ex. R. i. 32; "S. Y." p. 115a).

Flees from Egypt.

Moses did not commit murder in killing the Egyptian (Ex. ii. 12); for the latter merited death because he had forced an Israelitish woman to commit adultery with him (Ex. R. i. 33). Moses was at that time eighteen years of age ("D. Y." l.c.; "M. W." l.c.; "S. Y." l.c.). According to another version, Moses was then twenty, or possibly forty, years of age (Ex. R. i. 32, 35). These divergent opinions regarding his age at the time when he killed the Egyptian are based upon different estimates of the length of his stay in the royal palace (Yalk., Shemot, 167; Gen. R. xi.), both of them assuming that he fled from Egypt immediately after the slaying (Ex. ii. 15). Dathan and Abiram were bitter enemies of Moses, insulting him and saying he should not act as if he were a member of the royal house, since he was the son not of Batya, but of Jochebed. Previous to this they had slandered him before Pharaoh. Pharaoh had forgiven Moses everything else, but would not forgive him for killing the Egyptian. He delivered him to the executioner, who chose a very sharp sword with which to kill Moses; but the latter's neck became like a marble pillar, dulling the edge of the sword ("M. W." l.c.). Meanwhile the angel Michael descended from heaven, and took the form of the executioner, giving the latter the shape of Moses and so killing him. He then took up Moses and carried him beyond the frontier of Egypt for a distance of three, or, according to another account, of forty, days ("D. Y." l.c.; "S. Y." p. 115b). According to another legend, the angel took the shape of Moses, and allowed himself to be caught, thus giving the real Moses an opportunity to escape (Mek., Yitro. 1 [ed. Weiss. 66a]; Ex. R. i. 36).

King in Ethiopia.

The fugitive Moses went to the camp of King Nikanos, or Kikanos, of Ethiopia, who was at that time besieging his own capital, which had been traitorously seized by Balaam and his sons and made impregnable by them through magic. Moses joined the army of Nikanos, and the king and all his generals took a fancy to him, because he was courageous as a lion and his face gleamed like the sun ("S. Y." P. 116a; comp. B. B. 75a). When Moses had spent nine years with the army King Nikanos died, and the Hebrew was made general. He took the city, driving out Balaam and his sons Jannes and Jambres, and was proclaimed king by the Ethiopians. He was obliged, in deference to the wishes of the people, to marry Nikanos' widow, Adoniya (comp. Num. xii.), with whom he did not, however, cohabit ("D. Y." l.c.; "S. Y." p. 116b). Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses on account of the Cushite (Ethiopian) woman whom he had married. He was twenty-seven years of age when he became king; and he ruled over Ethiopia for forty years, during which he considerably increased the power of the country. After forty years his wife, Queen Adoniya, accused him before the princes and generals of not having cohabited with her during the many years of their marriage, and of never having worshiped the Ethiopian gods. She called upon the princes not to suffer a stranger among them as king, but to make her son by Nikanos, Munahas or Munakaros, king. The princes complied with her wishes, but dismissed Moses in peace, giving him great treasures. Moses, who was at this time sixty-seven years old, went from Ethiopia to Midian (ib.).

According to Josephus' account of this story (see Moses in Hellenistic Literature), after Moses' marriage to the daughter of the Ethiopian king, he did not become King of Ethiopia, but led his troops back to Egypt, where he remained. The Egyptians and even Pharaoh himself were envious of his glorious deeds, fearing also that he might use his power to gain dominion over Egypt. They therefore sought how they might assassinate him; and Moses, learning of the plot, fled to Midian. This narrative of Josephus' agrees with two haggadic accounts, according to which Moses fled from Egypt direct to Midian, not staying in Ethiopia at all. These accounts are as follows: (1) Moses lived for twenty years in Pharaoh's house; he then went to Midian, where he remained for sixty years, when, as a man of eighty, he undertook the mission of liberating Israel (Yalk., Shemot, 167). (2) Moses lived for forty years in Pharaoh's house; thence he went to Midian, where he stayed for forty years until his mission was entrusted to him (Gen. R. xi.; comp. Sifre, Deut. xxxiv. 7).

Relations with Jethro.

On his arrival at Midian Moses told his whole story to Jethro, who recognized him as the man destined to destroy the Egyptians. He therefore took Moses prisoner in order to deliver him to Pharaoh ("D. Y." l.c.). According to another legend, Jethro took him for an Ethiopian fugitive, and intended to deliver him to the Ethiopians ("S. Y." l.c.). He kept him prisoner for seven ("D. Y." l.c.) or ten ("S. Y." l.c.) years. Both of these legends are based on another legend according to which Moses was seventy-seven years of age when Jethro liberated him. According to the legend ("D. Y." l.c.) which says that he went to Nikanos' camp at the age of thirty, and ruled over Ethiopia for forty years, he was only seven years in Jethro's hands (30+40+7 = 77). According to the other legend ("S. Y." l.c.) he was eighteen years old when he fled from Egypt; he remained for nine years in the camp of Nikanos; and was king over Ethiopia for forty years. Hence he must have been Jethro's captive for ten years, or till his seventy-seventh year.

The Circumcision of Gershom.

Moses was imprisoned in a deep dungeon in Jethro's house, and received as food only small portions of bread and water. He would have died of hunger had not Zipporah, to whom Moses had before his captivity made an offer of marriage by the well, devised a plan by which she no longer went out to pasture the sheep, but remained at home to attend to the household, being thereby enabled to supply Moses with food without her father's knowledge. After ten (or seven) years Zipporah reminded her father that he had at one time cast a man into the dungeon, who must have died long ago; but ifhe were still living he must be a just man whom God had kept alive by a miracle. Jethro went to the dungeon and called Moses, who answered immediately. As Jethro found Moses praying, he really believed that he had been saved by a miracle, and liberated him. Jethro had planted in his garden a marvelous rod, which had been created on the sixth day of the Creation, on Friday afternoon, and had been given to Adam. This curious rod had been handed down through Enoch, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to Joseph, at whose death it came into the possession of Pharaoh's court. Jethro, who saw it there, stole it and planted it in his garden. On the rod were engraved the name of God (Yhwh) and the initials of the ten plagues destined for Egypt. Jethro asked every one who wished to marry one of his daughters to pull up the rod; but no suitor had yet succeeded in doing so. Moses, on being set at liberty, walked in the garden, saw the rod, and read the inscription. He easily pulled it out of the ground and used it for a staff (see Aaron's Rod). Jethro thereby recognized Moses as the deliverer of Israel, and gave him the virtuous Zipporah as wife, together with much money ("S. Y.," "D. Y.," and "M. W." l.c.). Jethro stipulated that the first-born son of the marriage should adopt Jethro's pagan belief, while all the other children might be reared as Jews; and Moses agreed thereto (Mek., Yitro, 1 [ed. Weiss, p. 65b]). According to "M. W." l.c., one-half of the children of this marriage were to belong to Judaism and one-half to paganism. When therefore his son Gershom—who subsequently became the father of Jonathan—was born, Moses, under his agreement with Jethro, could not circumcise him ("S. Y." l.c.). Moses, therefore, went with his wife and child (another version says that both of his sons were then already born) to Egypt. On the way he met Satan, or Mastema, as he is called in the Book of Jubilees (xlviii. 2), in the guise of a serpent, which proceeded to swallow Moses, and had ingested the upper part of his body, when he stopped. Zipporah seeing this, concluded that the serpent's action was due to the fact that her son had not been circumcised (Ned. 31b-32a; Ex. R. v.), whereupon she circumcised him and smeared some of the blood on Moses' feet. A voice ("bat kol") was then heard commanding the serpent to disgorge the half-swallowed Moses, which it immediately did. When Moses came into Egypt he met his old enemies Dathan and Abiram, and when they asked him what he was seeking in Egypt, he immediately returned to Midian ("M. W." l.c.).

At the Burning Bush.

As the shepherd of his father-in-law he drove his sheep far into the desert (Ex. iii. 1), in order to prevent the sheep from grazing in fields not belonging to Jethro (Ex. R. i. 3). Here God appeared to him and addressed him for seven consecutive days (ib. iii. 20). Moses, however, refused to listen, because he would not allow himself to be disturbed in the work for which he was paid. Then God caused the flaming bush to appear (Ex. iii. 2-3), in order to divert Moses' attention from his work. The under-shepherds with Moses saw nothing of the marvelous spectacle, which Moses alone beheld (Ex. R. ii. 8). Moses then interrupted his work, and stepped nearer the bush to investigate (ib. ii. 11). As Moses was at this time entirely inexperienced in prophecy, God, in calling him, imitated the voice of Amram, so as not to frighten him. Moses, who thought that his father, Amram, was appearing to him, said: "What does my father wish?" God answered: "I am the God of thy father" (Ex. iii. 6), and gave him the mission to save Israel (ib.). Moses hesitated to accept the mission (comp. Ex. iii. 11) chiefly because he feared that his elder brother, Aaron, who until then had been the only prophet in Israel, might feel slighted if his younger brother became the savior of the people; whereupon God assured him that Aaron would be glad of it (Ex. R. iii. 21-22). According to another version (ib. xv. 15), Moses said to God: "Thou hast promised Jacob that Thou Thyself wouldest liberate Israel [comp. Gen. xlvi. 4], not appointing a mediator." God answered: "I myself will save them; but go thou first and announce to My children that I will do so." Moses consented, and went to his father-in-law, Jethro (Ex. iv. 18), to obtain permission to leave Midian (Ned. 65a; Ex. R. iv. 1-4), for he had promised not to leave Midian without his sanction. Moses departed with his wife and children, and met Aaron (comp. Ex. iv. 27), who told him it was not right to take them into Egypt, since the attempt was being made to lead the Israelites out of that country. He therefore sent his wife and children back to Midian ("S. Y." p. 123a; Mek., Yitro, 1 [ed. Weiss, p. 65b]). When they went to Pharaoh, Moses went ahead, Aaron following, because Moses was more highly regarded in Egypt (Ex. R. ix. 3); otherwise Aaron and Moses were equally prominent and respected (Mek., Bo, 1 [ed. Weiss, p. 1a]). At the entrance to the Egyptian royal palace were two leopards, which would not allow any one to approach unless their guards quieted them; but when Moses came they played with him and fawned upon him as if they were his dogs ("D. Y." l.c.; "S. Y." l.c.). According to another version, there were guards at every entrance. Gabriel, however, introduced Moses and Aaron into the interior of the palace without being seen (Yalk., Shemot, 175). As Moses' appearance before Pharaoh resulted only in increasing the tasks of the children of Israel (comp. Ex. v.), Moses returned to Midian; and, according to one version, he took his wife and children back at the same time (Ex. R. v. 23).

Before Pharaoh.

After staying six months in Midian he returned to Egypt (ib.), where he was subjected to many insults and injuries at the hands of Dathan and Abiram (ib. v. 24). This, together with the fear that he had aggravated the condition of the children of Israel, confused his mind so that he uttered disrespectful words to God (Ex. v. 22). Justice ("Middat ha-Din") wished to punish him for this; but as God knew that Moses' sorrow for Israel had induced these words he allowed Mercy ("Middat ha-RaHamim") to prevail (ib. vi. 1). As Moses feared that Middat ha-Din might prevent the redemption of Israel, since it was unworthy of being redeemed, God swore to him to redeem the people for Moses' sake (ib. vi. 3-5, xv. 4). Moses in treating with Pharaoh alwaysshowed to him the respect due to a king (ib. vii. 2). Moses was really the one selected to perform all the miracles; but as he himself was doubtful of his success (ib. vi. 12) some of them were assigned to Aaron (ib. 1). According to another version, Aaron and not Moses undertook to send the plagues and to perform all the miracles connected with the water and the dust. Because the water had saved Moses, and the dust had been useful to him in concealing the body of the Egyptian (ib. ii. 12), it was not fitting that they should be the instruments of evil in Moses' hand (ib. ix. 9, x. 5, xx. 1). When Moses announced the last plague, he would not state the exact time of its appearance, midnight, saying merely "ka-Haẓot" = "about midnight" (ib. xi. 4), because he thought the people might make a mistake in the time and would then call him a liar (Ber. 3b, 4a). On the night of the Exodus, when Moses had killed his paschal lamb, all the winds of the world were blowing through paradise, carrying away its perfumes and imparting them to Moses' lamb so that the odor of it could be detected at a distance of forty days (Ex. R. xix. 6).

At the Exodus.

During this night all the first-born, including the female first-born, were killed, with the exception of Pharaoh's daughter Batya, who had adopted Moses. Although she was a first-born child, she was saved through Moses' prayer ("S. Y." p. 125b). During the Exodus while all the people thought only of taking the gold and silver of the Egyptians, Moses endeavored to carry away boards for use in the construction of the future Temple (comp. Gen. R. xciv. 4 and Jew. Encyc. vii. 24, s.v. Jacob) and to remove Joseph's coffin (Ex. R. xviii. 8). Serah, Asher's daughter, told Moses that the coffin had been lowered into the Nile; whereupon Moses went to the bank of the river and cried: "Come up, Joseph" (according to another version, he wrote the name of God on a slip of paper, which he threw into the Nile), when the coffin immediately rose to the surface (Sotah 13a; Ex. R. xx. 17; "D. Y." l.c.; "S. Y." p. 126). Another legend says that Joseph's coffin was among the royal tombs, the Egyptians guarding it with dogs whose barking could be heard throughout Egypt; but Moses silenced the dogs and took the coffin out (Sotah l.c.; Ex. R. l.c.; comp. Joseph in Rabbinical Literature).

On arriving at the Red Sea Moses said to God when commanded by Him to cleave the water: "Thou hast made it a law of nature that the sea shall never be dry," whereupon God replied that at the Creation He had made an agreement with the sea as to the separation of its waters at this time (Ex. R. xxi. 16; comp. "M. W." p. 38). When the Israelites saw Pharaoh and his army drown in the Red Sea (Ex. xiv. 30-31) they wished to return to Egypt and set up a kingdom there; but Moses prevented them, urging them on by force. He also removed the idols which the Israelites had brought with them from Egypt (Ex. R. xxiv. 2).

Receives the Torah.

The giving of the tables of the Law and of the Torah in general to Moses is a favorite subject for legends. In contrast to the pithy sentence of R. Jose (Suk. 5a) to the effect that Moses never ascended into heaven, there are many haggadot which describe in detail how Moses made his ascension and received the Torah there. Moses went up in a cloud which entirely enveloped him (Yoma 4a). As he could not penetrate the cloud, God took hold of him and placed him within it (ib. 4b). When he reached heaven the angels asked God: "What does this man, born of woman, desire among us?" God replied that Moses had come to receive the Torah, whereupon the angels claimed that God ought to give the Torah to them and not to men. Then God told Moses to answer them. Moses was afraid that the angels might burn him with the breath of their mouths; but God told him to take hold of the throne of glory. Moses then proved to the angels that the Torah was not suited to them, since they had no passions to be subdued by it. The angels thereupon became very friendly with Moses, each one of them giving him something. The angel of death confided to him the fact that incense would prevent the plague (Shab. 88b-89a; Ex. R. xxviii.). Moses subsequently caused Aaron to employ this preventive (Num. xvii. 11-13). Moses, following the custom of the angels, ate nothing during his forty days' sojourn in heaven (B. M. 87b), feeding only on the splendor of the Shekinah. He distinguished day from night by the fact that God instructed him by day in the Scripture, and by night in the Mishnah (Ex. R. xlvii. 9). God taught him also everything which every student would discover in the course of time (ib. i.). When Moses first learned the Torah he soon forgot it; it was then bestowed upon him as a gift and he did not again forget it (Ned. 35a).

Worship of the Golden Calf.

The Torah was intended originally only for Moses and his descendants; but he was liberal enough to give it to the people of Israel, and God approved the gift (Ned. 38a). According to another version, God gave the Torah to the Israelites for Moses' sake (Ex. R. xlvii. 14). Moses' burnt tongue was healed when he received the Law (Deut. R. i. 1). As Moses was writing down the Torah, he, on reaching the passage "Let us make man" (Gen. i. 26), said to God, "Why dost thou give the Minim the opportunity of construing these words to mean a plurality of gods?" whereupon God replied: "Let those err that will" (Gen. R. viii. 7). When Moses saw God write the words "erek appayim" (= "long-suffering"; Ex. xxxiv. 6), and asked whether God was long-suffering toward the pious only, God answered, "Toward sinners also." When Moses said that sinners ought to perish, God answered, "You yourself will soon ask me to be long-suffering toward sinners" (Sanh. 111a). This happened soon after Israel had made the golden calf (ib.). Before Moses ascended to heaven he said that he would descend on the forenoon of the forty-first day. On that day Satan confused the world so that it appeared to be afternoon to the Israelites. Satan told them that Moses had died, and was thus prevented from punctually fulfilling his promise. He showed them a form resembling Moses suspended in the air, whereupon the people made the golden calf (Shab. 89a; Ex. R. lxi.). When, in consequence of this, Moses was obliged to descend from heaven (Ex. xxxii. 7), he saw the angels of destruction, who were ready todestroy him. He was afraid of them; for he had lost his power over the angels when the people made the golden calf. God, however, protected him (Ex. R. xli. 12). When Moses came down with the tables and saw the calf (Ex. xxxii. 15-20), he said to himself: "If I now give to the people the tables, on which the interdiction against idolatry is written (Ex. xx. 2-5), they will deserve death for having made and worshiped the golden calf." In compassion for the Israelites he broke the tables, in order that they might not be held responsible for having transgressed the command against idolatry (Ab. R. N. ii.). Moses now began to pray for the people, showing thereby his heroic, unselfish love for them. Gathering from the words "Let me" (Ex. xxxii. 10) that Israel's fate depended on him and his prayer, he began to defend them (Ber. 32a; Meg. 24a). He said that Israel, having been sojourning in Egypt, where idolatry flourished, had become accustomed to this kind of worship, and could not easily be brought to desist from it (Yalk., Ki Tissa, 397). Moreover, God Himself had afforded the people the means of making the golden calf, since he had given them much gold and silver (Ber. l.c.). Furthermore, God had not forbidden Israel to practise idolatry, for the singular and not the plural was used in Ex. xx. 2-5, referring, therefore, only to Moses (Ex. R. xlvii. 14).

Moses and Israel.

Moses refused God's offer to make him the ancestor of a great people (Ex. xxxii. 10), since he was afraid that it would be said that the leader of Israel had sought his own glory and advantage and not that of the people. He, in fact, delivered himself to death for the people (Ber. l.c.). For love of the Israelites he went so far as to count himself among the sinners (comp. Isa. liii. 12), saying to God: "This calf might be an assistant God and help in ruling the world." When God reproved him with having himself gone astray and with believing in the golden calf, he said: "Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people" (Ex. xxxii. 11; Num. R. ii. 14; Deut. R. i. 2). Moses atoned for the sin of making the calf; he even atoned for all the sins of humanity down to his time, freeing men from their burden of sin (Yalk., Ki Tissa, 388, from the Tanna debe Eliyahu; this, as well as the interpretation of Isa. liii. as referring to Moses [Sotah 14a], must be either ascribed to Christian influence or regarded as a polemic against the Christian interpretations referring to Jesus). Moses loved the people (Men. 65a, b), showing his affection on every occasion. During the battle with Amalek he sat on a stone, and not on a cushion which he could easily have procured, because, Israel being at that time in trouble, he intended to show thereby that he suffered with them (Ta'an. 11a). When he begged God, before his death, to recall the oath that he (Moses) should never enter Palestine, God replied, "If I recall this oath I will also recall the oath never to destroy Israel," whereupon Moses said: "Rather let Moses and a thousand like him perish than that one of the people of Israel should perish" (Midr. Petirat Mosheh, in Jellinek, "B. H." i. 121). Moses requested that the Shekinah might rest in Israel only in order that Israel might thereby be distinguished among all peoples (Ber. 7a); that if they sinned and were penitent, their intentional sins might be regarded merely as trespasses (Yoma 36b); and that when Israel should suffer under the yoke of the nations, God would protect the pious and the saints of Israel (B. B. 8a). All the injuries and slanders heaped upon Moses by the people did not lessen his love for them.

The words "They looked after Moses" (Ex. xxxiii. 8) are differently interpreted. According to one opinion the people praised Moses, saying: "Hail to the mother who has borne him; all the days of his life God speaks with him; and he is dedicated to the service of God." According to another opinion they repreached and reviled him: they accused him of committing adultery with another man's wife; and every man became jealous and forbade his wife to speak to Moses. They said: "See how fat and strong he has grown; he eats and drinks what belongs to the Jews, and everything that he has is taken from the people. Shall a man who has managed the building of the Tabernacle not become rich?" (Sanh. 110a; kid. 33b; Ex. R. li. 4; Shek. v. 13). Yet Moses was the most conscientious of superintendents (Ber. 44a), and although he had been given sole charge of the work, he always caused his accounts to be examined by others (Ex. R. li. 1). He was always among the workmen, showing them how to do the work.

In the Tabernacle.

When everything was prepared Moses set up the Tabernacle alone (Ex. R. lii. 3). He fastened the ceiling of the tent over it, as he was the only one able to do so, being ten ells tall (Shab. 92a). During the seven days of the dedication he took the Tabernacle apart every day and set it up again without any help. When all was completed he gave a detailed account of the various expenses (Ex. R. li. 4). During the seven days of the dedication, or, according to another account, during the forty years of the wandering in the desert, Moses officiated as high priest. He was also king during this entire period. When he demanded these two offices for his descendants God told him that the office of king was destined for David and his house, while the office of high priest was reserved for Aaron and his descendants (Ex. R. ii. 13; Lev. R. xi. 6; Zeb. 102a).

All the different cycles of legends agree in saying that Moses was very wealthy, probably on the basis of Num. xvi. 15 (comp. Ned. 35a, where this interpretation is regarded as uncertain); they differ, however, as to the source of his wealth. According to one, he derived it from the presents and treasures given to him by the Ethiopians when they took the crown away from him ("D. Y." l.c.). According to another, Jethro gave him a large sum of money as dowry when he married Zipporah ("M. W." l.c.). Still another story relates that Moses received a large part of the booty captured from Pharaoh and, later, from Sihon and Og (Lev. R. xxviii. 4). In contrast to these versions, according to which Moses gained his wealth by natural means, there are two other versions according to which Moses became wealthy by a miracle. One of these narratives saysthat Moses became rich through the breaking of the tables, which were made of sapphires (Ned. 35a); and the other that God showed him in his tent a pit filled with these precious stones (Yalk., Ki Tissa, 39b).

Personal Qualities.

Moses was also distinguished for his strength and beauty. He was, as stated above, ten ells tall and very powerful. In the battle against Og, Moses was the only one able to kill that king (Ber. 54b; see Og in Rabbinical Literature). His face was surrounded by a halo (comp. Ex. xxxiv. 29-35); this was given to him in reward for having hidden his face on first meeting God in the burning bush (ib. iii. 2-6; Ber. 7a), or he derived it from the cave in the cleft of the rock (comp. Ex. xxxiii. 22) or from the tables, which he grasped while God was holding one side and the angels the other. Another legend says that a drop of the marvelous ink with which he wrote down the Torah remained on the pen; and when he touched his head with the pen he received his halo (Ex. R. xlvii. 11).

Moses was called the "father of wisdom" on account of his great sagacity (Meg. 13a; Lev. R. i. 15). He possessed forty-nine of the fifty divisions of wisdom (R. H. 21b; Ned. 35a). The question why the pious sometimes have bad luck while the sinners are fortunate was solved for him (Ber. 7a). He wished to know also how good deeds are rewarded in the future world, but this was not revealed to him (Yalk., Ki Tissa, 395). Piety was not burdensome to him (Ber. 33b). His prayers were immediately answered (Gen. R. lx. 4). He was so prominent a figure that his authority was equal to that of an entire sanhedrin of seventy-one members (Sanh. 16b), or even of the whole of Israel (Mek., BeshallaH, Shir, 1 [ed. Weiss, p. 41a]).

His Prophetic Powers.

Aside from the Pentateuch, Moses wrote also the Book of Job and some Psalms. He also introduced many regulations and institutions (Shab. 30a; comp. Ber. 54; Ta'an. 27; Meg. 4; Yeb. 79; Mak. 24). On account of the excellence of his prophecy he is called "the father," "the head," "the master," and "the chosen of the Prophets" (Lev. R. i. 3; Esth. R. i.; Ex. R. xxi. 4; Gen. R. lxxvi. 1). While all the other prophets ceased to prophesy after a time, Moses continued to talk with God and to prophesy throughout his life (Ex. R. ii. 12); and while all the other prophets beheld their visions as through nine spectacles ("espaklarya") or through dim ones, Moses beheld his as through one clear, finely ground glass (Yeb. 49b; Lev. R. i. 14). Balaam surpassed him in prophecy in two respects: (1) Balaam always knew when God was about to speak with him, while Moses did not know beforehand when God would speak with him; and (2) Balaam could speak with God whenever he wished, which Moses could not do. According to another tradition (Num. R. xiv. 34), however, Moses also could speak with God as often as he wished. The fact that God would speak with him unawares induced Moses to give up domestic life, and to live separated from his wife (Shab. 87a).

Can Not Enter the Promised Land.

Moses' modesty is illustrated by many fine examples in the Haggadah (comp. Num. xii. 3). When God pointed to R. Akiba and his scholarship, Moses said: "If Thou hast such a man, why dost Thou reveal the Torah through me?" (Men. 29b; see also Akiba). When Moses descended from heaven Satan came to ask him where the Torah was which God had given to him. Moses said: "Who am I? Am I worthy to receive the Torah from God?" When God asked him why he denied that the Torah had been given to him, he replied: "How can I claim anything which belongs to Thee and is Thy darling?" Then God said to him: "As thou art so modest and humble, the Torah shall be called after thee, the 'Torah of Moses'" (Shab. 89a; comp. Mal. iii. 22). Moses' modesty never allowed him to put himself forward (e.g., in liberating Israel, in dividing the sea, and subsequently also in connection with the Tabernacle) until God said to him: "How long wilt thou count thyself so lowly? The time is ready for thee; thou art the man for it" (Lev. R. i. 15). When Moses had made a mistake, or had forgotten something, he was not ashamed to admit it (Zeb. 101a). In his prayers he always referred to the merits of others, although everything was granted to him on account of his own merit (Ber. 10b). Whenever the cup is handed to him during the banquet of the pious in the other world, that he may say grace over the meal, he declares: "I am not worthy to say grace, as I have not deserved to enter the land of Israel" (Pes. 119b). The fact that Moses, the foremost leader of Israel, who ceaselessly prayed for it and partook of its sorrows (Num. R. xviii. 5), and on whose account the manna was showered down from heaven and the protecting clouds and the marvelous well returned after the death of Aaron and Miriam (Ta'an. 9a), should not be allowed to share in Israel's joys and enter the promised land ("M. W." l.c.), was a problem that puzzled the Haggadah, for which it tried to find various explanations. Moses was anxious to enter the promised land solely because many of the commandments given by God could be observed only there, and he was desirous of fulfilling all the commandments. God, however, said that He looked upon Moses as having fulfilled all the commandments, and would therefore duly reward him therefor (Sotah 14a). Moses prayed in vain to be permitted to go into the promised land if only for a little while; for God had decreed that he should not enter the country either alive or dead. According to one opinion, this decree was in punishment for the words addressed by him to God: "Wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people?" (Ex. v. 22; Ex. R. v. 27). According to another version, this punishment was inflicted upon him for having once silently renounced his nationality. When Moses had helped the daughters of Jethro at the well, they took him home, letting him wait outside while they went into the house and told their father that an Egyptian had protected them (Ex. ii. 19). Moses, who overheard this conversation, did not correct them, concealing the fact that he was a Hebrew ("M. W." l.c.). There is still another explanation, to the effect that it would not have redounded to the glory of Moses if he who had led 600,000 persons out of Egypt had been the only one to enter Palestine, while the entire people were destinedto die in the desert (comp. Num. xiv. 28-37). Again, Moses had to die with the generation which he took out of Egypt, in order that he might be able to lead them again in the future world (Num. R. xix. 6).

Moses Strikes the Rock.

Denying all these reasons, another explanation, based on Scripture, is that Moses and Aaron were not permitted to enter the promised land because they did not have the proper confidence in God in calling water from the rock (Num. xx. 12). Moses asked that this error should be noted down in the Torah (Num. xx. 12) in order that no other errors or faults should be ascribed to him (Num. R. l.c.). This story of his lack of true confidence in God when calling forth the water is elaborated with many details in the legends.

Moses was careful not to provoke the people during the forty years of wandering in the desert, because God had sworn that none of the generation which had left Egypt should behold the promised land (Deut. i. 35). When he went to call forth the water he did not know exactly from which rock it would come. The people became impatient and said that there was no difference between the rocks, and that he ought to be able to call forth water from any one of them. Vexed, he replied, "Ye rebels!" (Num. xx. 10) or, according to the Midrash, "fools!" (=μῶροι). God therefore said to him: "As thou art clever, thou shalt not enter the land together with fools." According to another legend, Moses became angry because some of the people said that, since he had been a herdsman with Jethro, he knew, like all herdsmen, where to find water in the desert, and that now he was merely trying to deceive the people and to make them believe that he had miraculously called water from the rock (Midr. Petirat Aharon, in Jellinek, l.c. i. 93 et seq.; Num. R. xix. 5; Yalk., Hukkat, 763).

At Aaron's Death.

When Moses heard that Aaron also had to die he grieved and wept so much as to occasion his own death (Midr. Petirat Aharon, l.c.). This story, as well as the reference to his early death (Yoma 87a), was probably based on Deut. xxxiv. 7, according to which he retained all his faculties and his full strength down to his end; but they contradict the many other versions of his death (see below). When Moses took Aaron up the mountain where the latter was to die, and announced his death to him, he comforted him, saying: "You, my brother, will die and leave your office to your children; but when I die a stranger will inherit my office. When you die you will leave me to look after your burial; when I die I shall leave no brother, no sister, and no son to bury me" (Midr. Petirat Aharon, l.c.; Num. R. xix. 11; Yalk., Num. 763, 787)—for Moses' sons died before him (comp. the note in "Zayit Ra'anan" to Yalk., Num. 787). When Moses witnessed the quiet and peaceful death of Aaron he desired a similar death for himself (ib.). After Aaron's death Moses was accused by the people of having killed him through jealousy; but God cleared him from this suspicion by a miracle (Yalk., Num. 764).

When Moses was about to take vengeance on Midian before his death (comp. Num. xxxi.) he did not himself take part in the war, because he had at one time sojourned in Midian and had received benefits in that country (Num. R. xxii. 4). When Zimri brought the Midianitish woman Cozbi before Moses (Num. xxv. 6), asking that he might marry her, and Moses refused his request, Zimri reproached him with having himself married the Midianitish woman Zipporah (Sanh. 82a). Later, also, Moses was reproached for this marriage, the Rabbis saying that on account of it he became the ancestor of Jonathan, the priest of Micah's idol (Judges xviii. 30; B. B. 109b). God revealed to Moses before his death all the coming generations, their leaders and sages, as well as the saints and sinners. When Moses beheld Saul and his sons die by the sword he grieved that the first king of Israel should come to such a sad end (Lev. R. xxvi. 7). When God showed him hell he began to be afraid of it; but God promised him that he should not go thither (Num. R. xxiii. 4). He beheld paradise also. A detailed description of Moses' wanderings through paradise and hell is found in the apocalypse "Gedullat Mosheh" (Salonica, 1727; see Jew. Encyc. i. 679).

Death of Moses.

The different legends agree in saying that Moses died on Adar 7, the day on which he was born, at the age of 120 years (Meg. 13b; Mek., BeshallaH, Wayassa', 5 [ed. Weiss, p. 60a]; comp. Josephus, l.c. iv. 8, § 49), the angel of death not being present (B. B. 17a). But the earlier and the later legends differ considerably in the description and the details of this event. The earlier ones present the hero's death as a worthy close to his life. It takes place in a miraculous way; and the hero meets it quietly and resignedly. He ascends Mount Abarim accompanied by the elders of the people, and Joshua and Eleazar; and while he is talking with them a cloud suddenly surrounds him and he disappears. He was prompted by modesty to say in the Torah that he died a natural death, in order that people should not say that God had taken him alive into heaven on account of his piety (Josephus, l.c.). The event is described somewhat differently, but equally simply, in Sifre, Deut. 305 (ed. Friedmann, p. 129b). For the statement that Moses did not die at all, compare Sotah 13b. "When the angel of death, being sent by God to Moses, appeared before him and said, 'Give me your soul,' Moses scolded him, saying, 'You have not even the right to appear where I am sitting; how dare you say to me that I shall give you my soul?' The angel of death took this answer back to God. And when God said to the angel the second time, 'Bring Me the soul of Moses,' he went to the place where Moses had been, but the latter had left. Then he went to the sea to look for Moses there. The sea said that it had not seen Moses since the time when he had led the children of Israel through it. Then he went to the mountains and valleys, which told him that God had concealed Moses, keeping him for the life in the future world, and no creature knew where he was."

This simple story of the old midrash follows the Bible closely, making the mountains and valleys the speakers because, according to Deut. xxxiv. 1-5, Moses died on the mountain and was buried in the valley. In the later legends the death of Moses isrecounted more fantastically, with many marvelous details. But instead of the hero being glorified, as was certainly intended by these details, he is unconsciously lowered by some traits ascribed to him. He appears weak and fearsome, not displaying that grandeur of soul which he might reasonably have been expected to exhibit at his death.

Wishes to Avoid Death.

When God said to Moses that he must die Moses replied: "Must I die now, after all the trouble I have had with the people? I have beheld their sufferings; why should I not also behold their joys? Thou hast written in the Torah: 'At his day thou shalt give him his hire' [Deut. xxiv. 15]; why dost thou not give me the reward of my toil?" (Yalk., Deut. 940; Midr. Petirat Mosheh, in Jellinek, l.c. i. 115-129). God assured him that he should receive his reward in the future world. Moses then asked why he must die at all, whereupon God enumerated some of the sins for which he had deserved death, one of them being the murder of the Egyptian (Ex. ii. 12; Midr. Petirat Mosheh, l.c.). According to another version, Moses had to die so that he might not be taken for a god (ib.). Moses then began to become excited (Yalk., Wa'etHanan, 814), saying he would live like the beasts of the field and the birds, which get their daily food only for the sake of remaining alive (Yalk., Deut. 940). He desired to renounce the entry into the promised land and remain with the tribes of Reuben and Gad in the country east of the Jordan, if only he might remain alive. God said that this could not be done, since the people would leave Joshua and return to him (Midr. Petirat Mosheh, l.c.). Moses then begged that one of his children or one of the children of his brother Aaron might succeed him (ib. and Num. R. xxi. 15). God answered that his children had not devoted themselves to the Law, whereas Joshua had served Moses faithfully and had learned from him; he therefore deserved to succeed his teacher (ib.). Then Moses said: "Perhaps I must die only because the time has come for Joshua to enter upon his office as the leader of Israel. If Joshua shall now become the leader, I will treat him as my teacher and will serve him, if only I may stay alive." Moses then began to serve Joshua and give him the honor due to a master from his pupil. He continued to do this for thirty-seven days, from the first of Shebat to the seventh of Adar. On the latter day he conducted Joshua to the tent of the assembly. But when he saw Joshua go in while he himself had to remain outside, he became jealous, and said that it was a hundred times better to die than to suffer once such pangs of jealousy. Then the treasures of wisdom were taken away from Moses and given to Joshua (comp. Sotah 13b). A voice ("bat kol") was heard to say, "Learn from Joshua!" Joshua delivered a speech of which Moses understood nothing. Then, when the people asked that Moses should complete the Torah, he replied, "I do not know how to answer you," and tottered and fell. He then said: "Lord of the world, until now I desired to live; but now I am willing to die." As the angel of death was afraid to take his soul, God Himself, accompanied by Gabriel, Michael, and Zagziel, the former teacher of Moses, descended to get it. Moses blessed the people, begged their forgiveness for any injuries he might have done them, and took leave of them with the assurance that he would see them again at the resurrection of the dead. Gabriel arranged the couch, Michael spread a silken cover over it, and Zagziel put a silken pillow under Moses' head. At God's command Moses crossed his hands over his breast and closed his eyes, and God took his soul away with a kiss. Then heaven and earth and the starry world began to weep for Moses (Midr. Petirat Mosheh, l.c.; Yalk., Deut. 940; Deut. R. xi. 6). Although Moses died in the territory of the tribe of Reuben, he was buried in that of Gad at a spot four miles distant from the place of his death. He was carried this distance by the Shekinah, while the angels said to him that he had practised God's justice (Deut. xxxiii. 22). At the same time the bat kol cried out in the camp of the people: "Moses, the great teacher of Israel, is dead!" (Sotah 13b).

God Himself buried Moses (Sotah 14a; Sanh. 39a) in a grave which had been prepared for him in the dusk of Friday, the sixth day of the Creation (Pes. 54a). This tomb is opposite Beth-peor (Deut. xxxiv. 6), in atonement for the sin which Israel committed with the idol Peor (Sotah 14a). Yet it can not be discovered; for to a person standing on the mountain it seems to be in the valley; and if one goes down into the valley, it appears to be on the mountain (ib.).

Bibliography: B. Beer, Leben Moses, nach Auffassung der Jüdischen Sage, in Jahrb. für Gesch. der Jud. iii. 1 et seq.;
M. Grünbaum, Neue Beiträge zur Semitischen Sagenkunde, pp. 15-85, Leyden, 1893.W. B. J. Z. L.

Moses in the Jahvist.

—Critical View:

In 1753 Jean Astruc, a French physician, published at Brussels a little book in which he advanced the theory that Moses had employed certain documents in composing the Book of Genesis. This work was thought by its author to establish the Mosaic authorship of Genesis upon a more secure basis, but it contained the key which, in the hands of a long line of critics, has led to the modern view that the Pentateuch originated from four great documents, all of which were written some centuries after Moses (see Pentateuch, Critical View). The oldest of these documents, known as J or the Jahvist, contains in its present state no account of the early life of Moses, but presents him first as a fugitive in the land of Midian. Nearly all the after-events of the life of Moses, enumerated above, are, however, given by J, who has a definite and interesting point of view. Critics differ as to whether Aaron had any place in the original narrative of J or not, Dillmann and Bacon assigning to him an important rôle, while Wellhausen, Stade, Carpenter, and Harford Battersby hold that such passages as Ex. iv. 13-14 are later interpolations. Be this as it may, J represents Moses as holding the unique position of importance. For example, in J's description of the plagues he pictures Moses as announcing the plague; then he tells how Yhwh sent it, usually through some natural agency (comp. Ex. viii. 20-24, the flies; x. 13, 19, the locusts). Similarly, J tells that Yhwh "caused the sea to go back by a strong east windall the night, and made the sea dry land" (Ex. xiv. 21). Thus he explains the passage of the Red Sea.

It is J who represents Moses as alone enjoying the privilege of intercourse with Yhwh face to face. He gives the account of the burning bush (Ex. iii. 2); he relates that Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, with seventy of the elders of Israel, went up into the mountain, and that Aaron and the seventy beheld Yhwh from afar off and ate and drank in His presence, but that Moses alone went near unto Yhwh (Ex. xxiv. 1-2, 9-11). In Ex. xxxiv. 5 Yhwh descended in a cloud and stood to talk with Moses. In J the basis of Yhwh's covenant are the ten "words" contained in Ex. xxxiv. J, too, in Num. xiv. 11-17, 19-24 presents one of the most noble pictures of Moses. Yhwh was angry, and declared that He would destroy Israel and make of Moses a great nation, but the unselfish leader pleaded against his own interests for the forgiveness of the nation which had so often thwarted him, and the prayer prevailed.

Moses in the Elohist.

The second prophetic document in point of age, known as E or the Elohist, contains the account of Moses' birth and exposure on the Nile, together with the incidents which led to his flight to Midian. Aaron and Miriam also played a part in the original E narrative. E gives especial attention to the part of Jethro in initiating Moses into the worship of Yhwh and in the organization of legal procedure (Ex. xviii. 12 et seq.). According to E, before the Exodus the Hebrews dwelt in the midst of the Egyptians (not in Goshen, as in J); and E asserts that on the advice of Moses the Hebrews borrowed freely of the Egyptians just before leaving. E pictures Moses as raising the fateful rod when he would have any plague come, at which sign the plague came. At the Red Sea also Moses lifted this rod and the waters parted. In the Enarrative Moses had a "tent of meeting" pitched at a distance from the camp, to which he resorted, accompanied only by Joshua, his minister, and there he talked with Yhwh face to face (Ex. xxxiii. 8-11). E makes the basis of the covenant which Moses mediated to be the code in Ex. xx. 24-xxiii. 19. This covenant, however, was not communicated at the tent of meeting, but on the top of the sacred mountain, which E calls "Horeb" and J calls "Sinai." E's narrative contains the chief events of the life of Moses already given. His portrait is dignified and noble, though lacking in the touches of highest heroism which make the picture of J superb.

In the Priestly Code.

The writer of the Priestly Code (P), like the two older prophetic writers, includes in his account the chief events in the life of Moses, but in accord with his usual habit tells these events in a few chronicle-like words in order to make them the setting of his history of the sacred institutions. P declares that Amram was the father of Moses, and Jochebed his mother (Ex. vi. 20), and gives to Aaron a prominence much greater than in the older narratives. Moses is a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron is Moses' prophet (Ex. vii. 1). In accord with this view, in P's account of the Egyptian plagues Moses communicates in each case a command to Aaron, who then stretches out the sacred rod to invoke the affliction. Thus Aaron is associated with Moses at almost every point. P increases everywhere the miraculous element. In his account the simple driving back of the waters of the Red Sea by the east wind becomes an astounding miracle (comp. Ex. xiv. 22). P traces to Moses the sacred institutions; the Levitical law was communicated by Yhwh to Moses; Moses received on the mount the pattern of the Tabernacle, which was constructed under his direction; even the duties of the Levites were arranged by him (see Levites, Critical View).

The Deuteronomist (D) adds nothing to the knowledge of the character of Moses. The account of the second giving of the Law in Moab, and various notes which expound and interpret the older narratives, constitute the whole Pentateuchal product of this writer.

Moses and Sargon.

The cuneiform library of Assurbanipal has furnished a legend of the birth of Sargon of Agade (a Babylonian king who, according to Nabonidos, ruled about 3800 B.C.) which is strikingly parallel to the story of the secret birth of Moses and of his exposure on the Nile. The legend runs:

"Sargon, the powerful king, King of Agade am I. My mother was of low degree; my father I did not know. The brother of my father dwelt in the mountain. My city was Azupirani, which is situated on the bank of the Euphrates. My humble mother conceived me; in secret she bore me. She placed me in a boat of reeds; with bitumen my door she closed. She entrusted me to the river, which did not overwhelm me. The river bore me along; to Akki the irrigator it carried me. Akki the irrigator in goodness . . . brought me to land. Akki the irrigator as his son brought me up. Akki the irrigator his gardener appointed me. While I was gardener, Ishtar loved me . . . four years I ruled the kingdom."

The parallelism between this narrative and the story of the exposure of Moses is thought by many scholars to be too close to be accidental.

Name.

The name is explained in Ex. ii. 12 (E) as though it were of Hebrew origin, and from ("to draw out"). If this were its real etymology, the name would mean "deliverer," "savior" (comp. Ps. xviii. 17, Hebr.). As an Egyptian princess could not have spoken Hebrew, this etymology has been generally abandoned. A second one dates from the time of Josephus ("Ant." ii. 9, § 6; "Contra Ap." i., § 31), and is built on the Greek form of the name Μωνσῆς. This, Josephus claims, is derived from Egyptian "mo" (water) and "uses" (saved)—a theory to which Jablonski gave a quasi-scientific character by comparing the Coptic "mo" (water) and "ushe" (rescued). An Egyptian name with such a meaning would, however, be formed differently (see "Z. D. M. G." xxv. 141). The etymology now generally received regards it as from the Egyptian "mesh" (child), often used as a part of a theophorous name. This view was suggested by Lepsius, and has been accepted by Ebers, Dillmann, Gesenius, and Buhl, by Briggs, Brown, and Driver in their lexicon, and by others. Guthe ("Gesch. des Volkes Israel," p. 20) also regards it as a fragment of a theophorous name. W. Max Müller has objected that the vowel in "mesh" is short, while that in "Moses" is long, and that the sibilants are not those which the philologicallaw would require. Accordingly Cheyne ("Encyc. Bibl.") proposes a Semitic origin, regarding the name as that of a North-Arabian tribe. One is inclined to return to the Biblical account and accept the etymology of E. If it may be supposed that the part of the narrative which attributes the naming to Pharaoh's daughter is inaccurate, the name may well be good Semitic, meaning "deliverer." Possibly it was not a name given in infancy, but an epithet which came to him as the result of his work.

Jewish Encyclopedia

MOSES HA-DARSHAN

2009-11-15T09:21:00.000-08:00

MOSES HA-DARSHAN :By : Wilhelm Bacher

ARTICLE HEADINGS:

As Haggadist.
His Pupils.

French exegete; lived at Narbonne about the middle of the eleventh century. According to a manuscript in the possession of the Alliance Israélite Universelle containing those parts of Abraham Zacuto's "Sefer Yuhasin" that are omitted in Samuel Shullam's edition (see Isidore Loeb, "Joseph Haccohen et les Chroniqueurs Juifs," in "R. E. J." xvi. 227), Moses was descended from a Narbonne family distinguished for its erudition, his great-grandfather, Abun, his grandfather, Moses ben Abun, and his father, Jacob ben Moses ben Abun (called "ha-Nabi"; see Jew. Encyc. vii. 39), all having been presidents of the Narbonne yeshibah. Moses himself held this position, and after his death it was occupied by his brother Levi (see R. Tam, "Sefer ha-Yashar," ed. Vienna, No. 620, p. 74).

As Haggadist.

Though Moses ha-Darshan was considered a rabbinical authority (R. Tam, l.c.; Abraham ben Isaac, "Sefer ha-Eshkol," ed. Auerbach, i. 143, Halberstadt, 1865), he owes his reputation principally to the fact that together with Tobiah ben Eliezer he was the most prominent representative of midrashic-symbolic Bible exegesis ("derash") in the eleventh century. His work on the Bible, probably sometimes called "Yesod," and known only by quotations found mostly in Rashi's commentaries, contained extracts from earlier haggadic works as well as midrashic explanations of his own. Often the latter were not in harmony with the spirit of the rabbinical Midrash and even contained Christian theological conceptions. Probably the non-preservation of the work was due to an excess of the foreign element in its composition, causing it to be regarded with disfavor. Moreover, as has recently been ascertained by Epstein, it was not a systematically arranged work, but merely a collection of notes made by Moses. For this reason, apparently, it did not have a fixed title, and therefore it is quoted under various names by different authors (see A. Berliner, "Eine Wiederaufgefundene Handschrift," in "Monatsschrift," 1884, p. 221; Zunz, "G. V." 2d ed., p. 302, note E).

The Midrash Bereshit Rabbah Major or Bereshit Rabbah Rabbati, known through quotations by Raymund Martin in his "Pugio Fidei," has many haggadot and haggadic ideas which recall very strongly Moses ha-Darshan's teachings; it is claimed by Zunz (l.c. p. 302) that the midrash was actually the work of Moses. A. Epstein, however, is of the opinion that the final compiler of the midrash, certainly not Moses ha-Darshan, took from the "Yesod" whatever he considered appropriate for his purpose, especially from Moses' midrashic interpretation of the Creation (see A. Epstein, "Bereshit Rabbati," in Berliner's "Magazin," xv. 70). In a similar way the "Yesod" influenced the Midrash Bemidbar Rabbah and the Midrash Tadshe, which latter, in a haggadic-symbolic manner, endeavors to show the parallelism between the world, mankind, and the Tabernacle (Zunz, "G. V." p. 292; Jellinek, "B. H." vol. iii., pp. xxxiii. et seq.). Concerning the Midrash Tadshe, Epstein goes so far as to assume that Moses ha-Darshan was its author ("Beiträge zur Jüdischen Alterthumskunde," p. xi.). Moses ha-Darshan explained some obscure expressions in certain piyyutim (Zunz, "Ritus," p. 199; Ziemlich, "Das Machsor von Nürnberg," in Berliner's "Magazin," xiii. 184). He is credited also with a midrash on the Ten Commandments and with a "widdui."

His Pupils.

Moses' son was Judah ha-Darshan ben Moses; probably the Joseph he-hasid mentioned in Samuel ben Jacob ibn Jama''s additions to the "'Aruk" of Nathan ben Jehiel (see S. Buber in "Grätz Jubelschrift," p. 34, s.v. ) was a son of Judah ha-Darshan. It is certain that Nathan ben Jehiel was a pupil of Moses, whose explanations of Talmudical words and passages he cites. Both Abraham Zacuto ("SeferYuhasin") and the above-mentioned manuscript of the Alliance Israélite Universelle ascribe to Moses three more pupils—Moses 'Anaw, Moses ben Joseph ben Merwan Levi, and Abraham ben Isaac (author of the "Sefer ha-Eshkol"). A. Epstein credits Moses with another pupil, a certain R. Shemaiah, who is quoted sometimes in Bereshit Rabbah Rabbati and in Numbers Rabbah as explaining sayings of Moses ha-Darshan's (l.c. pp. 74 et seq.; comp. p. ii.). He also suggests (l.c.) the identity of this Shemaiah with Shemaiah of Soissons, author of a midrash on Parashat Terumah (published by Berliner in "Monatsschrift," xiii. 224 et seq.), whose cosmological conceptions seem to have been influenced by Moses ha-Darshan.

Elijah

2009-10-06T19:03:00.000-07:00

ELIJAH By : Emil G. Hirsch Eduard König Solomon Schechter Louis Ginzberg M. Seligsohn Kaufmann Kohler

ARTICLE HEADINGS:

—Biblical Data:
Ahab and Elijah.
Elijah at Mount Horeb.
—In Rabbinical Literature:
In the Times of Ahab.
Elijah's Zeal for God.
Elijah in the Guise of an Arab.
Elijah the Friend of the Pious.
Joshua b. Levi and Elijah.
Elijah Explains His Actions.
Elijah as the Forerunner of the Messiah.
The Seven Miracles.
—In Mohammedan Literature:
—In Medieval Folk-Lore:
Sources.
—Critical View:

—Biblical Data:

The name means "Yhwh is (my) God," and is a confession that its bearer defended Yhwh against the worshipers of Baal and of other gods. It has therefore been assumed that the prophet took this name himself (Thenius, in "Kurzgefasstes Exegetisches Handbuch zu I Könige," xvii. 1). Elijah was a prophet in Israel in the first half of the ninth pre-Christian century, under King Ahab. In I Kings xvii. 1 and xxi. 17, etc., Elijah is called "the Tishbite" (), probably because he came from a place (or a family) by the name of "Tishbe." A place of that name lay within the boundaries of Naphtali (comp. Tobit i. 2). But the Hebrew words must refer to a place in Gilead (see, however, Targum, Masoretes and David Kimhi ad loc.).

Elijah, therefore, came from the land east of the Jordan, to wage war, in the name of the God of his fathers, against the worship of Baal. He was marked as an adherent of the old customs by his simple dress, consisting of a mantle of skins girt about the loins with a leather belt (II Kings i. 8). He began his activities with the announcement that the drought then afflicting the land should not cease until he gave the word (comp. Josephus, "Ant." viii. 13, § 2).

Ahab and Elijah.

This announcement, addressed to Ahab and his wife, marked the beginning of a life of wandering and privation for the prophet. He fled from hiding-place to hiding-place, the first being by the brook Cherith (). Since Robinson's explorations in Palestine (ii. 533 et seq.) this brook has been identified with the Wadi el-Kelt, which discharges into the Jordan near Jericho. But the resemblance between the two names is really less close than appears, for it must be remembered that "Kelt" is pronounced with the emphatic "k." Moreover, since the expressions and refer to the land east of the Jordan, the brook Cherith must have been there, even if there is no modern river-name with which to identify it. After the brook Cherith had dried up, the prophet was forced to seek refuge beyond the boundaries of Israel, and found it in the Phenician Zarephath, about four hours' journey south of Sidon, where a widow sustained him. She was rewarded by the prophet's miraculous benefits (I Kings xvii. 9-24).

The greatest achievement of Elijah's life was his victory over the priests of Baal at Mt. Carmel. Having heard that the other prophets of Yhwh were also persecuted, he requested King Ahab to gather the people of Israel, the 450 priests of Baal, and the 400 prophets of Ashtaroth on Mt. Carmel. Then he asked Israel the famous question: "How long do ye halt on both knees?" (A. V.: "How long halt ye between two opinions?"), meaning, "How long will ye be undecided as to whether ye shall follow Yhwh or Baal?" The people remaining silent, he invited the priests of Baal to a contest, proposing that he and they should each build an altar and lay a burnt offering thereon, and that the God who should send down fire from heaven to consume the offering should be accepted as the true God. After various unsuccessful attempts to get a favorable answer had been made by the prophets of Baal, while they were ridiculed with subtle irony by Elijah, Yhwh sent fire from heaven to consume his offering. Yhwh was recognized by Israel, and the priests of Baal were slain near the brook Kishon (I Kings xviii. 40).The Ascension of Elijah. From an illuminated Ketubah of the early nineteenth century.(In the U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C.)
(see image)

Elijah at Mount Horeb.

But this victory brought no rest to Elijah. He had to leave Israel in order to escape the vengeance of Jezebel (ib. xix. 3 et seq.), and fled to the place where Israel's Law had been promulgated by Moses. As he lay under a juniper-tree, exhausted by his journey, he was miraculously provided with food; and on reaching Horeb, the mountain of God, he heard the voice of the Lord exhorting him to patience. This is the sense of the famous passage (ib. xix. 11-13). God manifested Himself neither in the great wind that rent the mountains,nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but in the "still small voice." The three following measures were suggested: the appointing of a foreign enemy of Israel; the anointing of an Israelitic rival king to Ahab's dynasty; and the anointing of Elisha to continue the spiritual work of the prophet. This, the chief work of the prophet, Elijah himself carried on to the end of his life. After the election of Elisha (xix. 19-21), he prophesied both punishments and promises (xxi. 17-28; II Kings i. 3 et seq.), and left the field of his activities as suddenly as he had appeared (II Kings ii. 11).

Elijah is also mentioned in later Biblical and apocryphal passages as follows: II Chron. xxi. 12. et seq.; Mal. iii. 24; Ecclus. (Sirach) xlviii. 1; 1 Macc. ii. 58; Isaiah's Martyrdom, ii. 14 (in Kautzsch, "Die Apokryphen und Pseudepigraphen des Alten Testaments," 1898, ii. 125).E. G. H. E. K.

—In Rabbinical Literature:

Elijah, "let him be remembered for good," or "he who is remembered for good" (Yer. Sheb. iii., end); or, as he is commonly called among the Jews, "the prophet Elijah" (Eliyahu ha-nabi'), has been glorified in Jewish legend more than any other Biblical personage. The Haggadah which makes this prophet the hero of its description has not been content, as in the case of others, to describe merely his earthly life and to elaborate it in its own way, but has created a new history of him, which, beginning with his death or "translation," ends only with the close of the history of the human race. From the day of the prophet Malachi, who says of Elijah that God will send him before "the great and dreadful day" (Mal. iii. 23 [A. V. iv. 5]), down to the later marvelous stories of the hasidic rabbis, reverence and love, expectation and hope, were always connected in the Jewish consciousness with the person of Elijah. As in the case of most figures of Jewish legend, so in the case of Elijah the Biblical account became the basis of later legend. Elijah the precursor of the Messiah, Elijah zealous in the cause of God. Elijah the helper in distress—these are the three leading notes struck by the Haggadah, endeavoring to complete the Biblical picture with the Elijah legends. Since, according to the Bible, Elijah lived a mysterious life, the Haggadah naturally did not fail to supply the Biblical gaps in its own way. In the first place, it was its aim to describe more precisely Elijah's origin, since the Biblical (I Kings xvii. 1) "Elijah, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead," was too vague.

Three different theories regarding Elijah's origin are presented in the Haggadah: (1) he belonged to the tribe of Gad (Gen. R. lxxi.); (2) he was a Benjamite from Jerusalem, identical with the Elijah mentioned in I Chron. viii. 27; (3) he was a priest. That Elijah was a priest is a statement which is made by many Church fathers also (Aphraates, "Homilies," ed. Wright, p. 314; Epiphanius, "Hæres." lv. 3, passim), and which was afterward generally accepted, the prophet being further identified with Phinehas (PirKe R. El. xlvii.; Targ. Yer. on Num. xxv. 12; Origen, ed. Migne, xiv. 225). Mention must also be made of a statement which, though found only in the later cabalistic literature (YalKut Reubeni, Bereshit, 9a, ed. Amsterdam), seems nevertheless to be very old (see Epiphanius, l.c.), and according to which Elijah was an angel in human form, so that he had neither parents nor offspring. See Melchizedek.

In the Times of Ahab.

If the deeds which the Scripture records of Phinehas be disregarded, Elijah is first met with in the time of Ahab, and on the following occasion: God bade the prophet pay a visit of condolence to Hiel, who had suffered the loss of his sons because of his impiety. Elijah was unwilling to go, because profane words always angered and excited him. Only after God had promised to fulfil whatever words the prophet might utter in his righteous indignation did Elijah go to Hiel. Here the prophet met Ahab and warned him that God fulfils the maledictions of the godly, and that Hiel had been deprived of his sons because Joshua had anathematized the rebuilding of Jericho. The king derisively asked: Is Joshua greater than his teacher Moses? For Moses threatened all idolaters with hunger and distress, and yet he—Ahab-was faring very well. At this Elijah said (I Kings xvii. 1): "As the Lord God of Israel liveth," etc.; thereupon God had to fulfil His promise, and a famine came in consequence of the want of rain (Sanh. 113a; Yer. Sanh. x.). God sent ravens to supply the wants of the prophet during the famine. Some think "'ore-bim" (ravens) refers to the inhabitants of Oreb (Gen. R. xxxviii. 5; hul. 5a; so also the Jewish teacher of Jerome in his commentary on Isa. xv. 7). The ravens brought meat to Elijah from the kitchen of the pious Jehoshaphat (Tan., ed. Buber, iv. 165; Aphraates, l.c. p. 314; different in Sanh. 113). God, however, who is merciful even toward the impious, sought to induce Elijah to absolve Him from His promise, so that He might send rain. He accordingly caused the brook from which the prophet drew water to dry up, but this was of no avail. God finally caused the death of the son of the widow in whose house the prophet lived, hoping thereby to overcome the latter's relentless severity. When Elijah implored God to revive the boy (compare Jonah in Rabbinical Literature), God answered that this could only be accomplished by means of "the heavenly dew," and that before He could send the dew it would be necessary for the prophet to absolve Him from His promise (Yer. Ber. iv. 9b; different in Sanh. 113a). Elijah now saw that it would be necessary to yield, and took the opportunity to prove before Ahab, by a second miracle, the almighty power of God. He arranged with the king to offer sacrifices to God and Baal at one and the same time, and to see which would turn out to be the true God.

The bulls, which were selected for sacrifice by lot, were twins which had grown up together. But while Elijah brought his bull quickly to the place of sacrifice, the 450 priests of Baal labored in vain to induce the other to move a step. The animal even began to speak, complaining that while it was his twin brother's glorious privilege to be offered upon the altar of God, he was to be offered to Baal. Only after the prophet had convinced him that his sacrifice would also be for the glorification of Godcould the priests of Baal lead him to the altar (Tan., ed. Buber, iv. 165). They then commenced to cry "Baal! Baal!" but there was no response. In order to confound them utterly, "God made the whole world keep silent as if it were void and waste"; so that the priests of Baal might not claim that the voice of Baal had been heard (Ex. R. xxix., end). These proceedings consumed much time, and Elijah found it necessary to make the sun stand still: "Under Joshua thou stoodst still for Israel's sake; do it now that God's name be glorified!" (Aggadat Bereshit, lxxvi.). Toward evening Elijah called his disciple Elisha and made him pour water over his hands. Then a miracle took place: water commenced to flow from the fingers of Elijah as from a fountain, so that the ditch around the altar became full (Tanna debe Eliyahu R. xvii.). The prophet prayed to God that He would send fire down upon the altar, and that the people might see the miracle in its proper light and not regard it as sorcery (Ber. 9b). In his prayer he spoke of his mission as the precursor of the Messiah, and petitioned God to grant his request that he might be believed in future (Midr. Shir ha-Shirim, ed. Grünhuth, 25a; Aggadat Bereshit, lxxvi.).

Elijah's Zeal for God.

In spite of Elijah's many miracles the great mass of the Jewish people remained as godless as before; they even abolished the sign of the covenant, and the prophet had to appear as Israel's accuser before God (PirKe R. El. xxix.). In the same cave where God once appeared to Moses and revealed Himself as gracious and merciful, Elijah was summoned to appear before God. By this summons he perceived that he should have appealed to God's mercy instead of becoming Israel's accuser. The prophet, however, remained relentless in his zeal and severity, so that God commanded him to appoint his successor (Tanna debe Eliyahu Zuta viii.). The vision in which God revealed Himself to Elijah gave him at the same time a picture of the destinies of man, who has to pass through "four worlds." This world was shown to the prophet in the form of the wind, since it disappears as the wind; storm () is the day of death, before which man trembles (); fire is the judgment in Gehenna, and the stillness is the last day (Tan., PeKude, p. 128, Vienna ed.). Three years after this vision (Seder 'Olam R. xvii.) Elijah was "translated." Concerning the place to which Elijah was transferred, opinions differ among Jews and Christians, but the old view was that Elijah was received among the heavenly inhabitants, where he records the deeds of men (Kid. 70; Ber. R. xxxiv. 8), a task which according to the apocalyptic literature is entrusted to Enoch. But as early as the middle of the second century, when the notion of translation to heaven was abused by Christian theologians, the assertion was made that Elijah never entered into heaven proper (Suk. 5a; compare also Ratner on Seder 'Olam R. xvii.); in later literature paradise is generally designated as the abode of Elijah (compare PirKe R. El. xvi.), but since the location of paradise is itself uncertain, the last two statements may be identical.

It is one of the duties of Elijah to stand at the cross roads of paradise and to lead the pious to their proper places, to bring the souls of the impious out of hell at the beginning of the Sabbath, to lead them back again at the end of the Sabbath, and after they have suffered for their sins, to bring them to paradise forever (PirKe R. El. l.c.). In mystic literature Elijah is an angel, whose life on earth is conceived of as a merely apparitional one, and who is identified with Sandalfon. The cabalists speak also of the struggle between Elijah and the Angel of Death, who asserts his right to all children of men, and who endeavored to prevent, Elijah from entering heaven (Zohar Ruth, beginning, ed. Warsaw, 1885, 76a). The taking of Elijah into heaven or supramundane regions did not mean his severance from this world; on the contrary, his real activity then began. From Biblical times there is his letter to Jehoram, written seven years after his translation (Seder 'Olam R. xvii.; compare, however, Josephus, "Ant." ix. 5, § 2), and his interference in favor of the Jews after Haman had planned their extinction (see harbona; Mordecai). But it is mainly in post-Biblical times that Elijah's interest in earthly events was most frequently manifested, and to such an extent that the Haggadah calls him "the bird of heaven" (Ps. viii. 9, Hebr.), because like a bird he flies through the world and appears where a sudden divine interference is necessary (Midr. Teh. ad loc.; see also Ber. 4b; Targ. on Eccles. x. 20). His appearing among men is so frequent that even the irrational animals feel it: the joyous barking of the dogs is nothing else than an indication that Elijah is in the neighborhood (B. K. 60b). To men he appears in different forms, sometimes while they are dreaming, sometimes while they are awake, and this in such a way that the pious frequently know who is before them. Thus he once appeared to a Roman officer in a dream and admonished him not to be lavish of his inherited riches (Gen. R. lxxxiii.). Once a man came into a strange city shortly before the beginning of the Sabbath, and not knowing to whom to entrust his money (which he was not allowed to carry on the Sabbath), he went to the synagogue, where he saw some one with phylacteries on his forehead, praying. To this man he gave all that he had for keeping, but when he asked for its return at the end of the Sabbath, he found that he had to deal with a hypocrite and impostor. When the poor man fell asleep Elijah appeared to him, and showed him how to obtain his money from the wife of the swindler. When he awoke he followed the advice of Elijah, and not only received his money back, but also unmasked the hypocrite (PesiK. R. xxii.; Yer. Ber. ii.).

Elijah in the Guise of an Arab.

Elijah appeared to many while they were awake, and this in various ways. He often elected to appear in the guise of an Arab () or, more exactly, in that of an Arab of the desert (see Arabia in Rabbinical Literature). In this manner he once appeared to a poor but pious man, and asked him whether he wished to enjoy the six good years which were appointed him now, or at the end of his life. The pious man took him for a sorcerer, and made no reply. But when Elijah came the third time, the man consulted his wife as to what he should do. They concluded to tell the Arab that they wished to enjoy the good years at once; they had hardlyexpressed their wish when their children found a great treasure. The pious couple made good use of their riches, and spent much money for benevolent purposes. After six years the Arab returned and told them that the end of their prosperity had come. The woman, however, said to him: "If you can find people who will use with more conscientiousness what you give unto them, then take it from us and give it to them." God, who well knew what use this pious couple had made of their wealth, left it in their hands as long as they lived (Midr. Ruth Zuta, ed. Buber, near end).

To the pious, Elijah is in many cases a guardian angel, for whom no place is too remote, and who leaves nothing undone to help them in their distress or to save them from misery. Thus, Nahum of Gimzo was once sent on a political mission to Rome and given certain gifts to carry to the emperor; on the way he was robbed of these, but Elijah replaced them, and procured for Nahum riches and honor (Sanh. 109a). He saved the tanna Meïr from the persecuting bailiffs. During the religious persecutions under Hadrian he saved another tanna, Eleazar ben Prata, from the Roman government, which wished to sentence him to death, by removing those who were to testify against him and by bringing him to a place 400 miles distant ('Ab. Zarah 17b). He acted as witness for the amora Shila, when he was accused of exercising jurisdiction according to Jewish law (Ber. 58a), and appeared as comforter to Akiba when the latter was in distress (Ned. 50a). As physician he helped Simi b. Ashi (Shab. 109b), and R. Judah I., whose awful and incessant pains he stopped by laying his hand upon him. This healing had at the same time the effect of reconciling Rabbi with hiyyah, for Elijah appeared to Rabbi in the form of hiyyah, and caused him thereby to hold hiyyah in great respect (Yer. Kil. ix. 32b). Elijah was a daily guest in the academy of Rabbi, and on one occasion he even disclosed a great celestial mystery, for which he was severely punished in heaven (B. M. 85b). Elijah, however, is not only the helper in distress and the peacemaker, but he acted also as teacher of Eleazar ben Simon, whom he taught for thirteen years (PesiK., ed. Buber, x. 92b; see Akiba ben Joseph in Legend).

The following is an Elijah story which was very widely circulated, and which was even given a place in the liturgy: To a pious but very poor man Elijah once appeared and offered himself as servant. The man, at first refusing, finally took him. He did not keep him long, however, for the king needed a skilful builder for a palace which he was about to build; Elijah offered his services, and the pious man received a high price for his servant. Elijah did not disappoint his new master, but prayed to God, whereupon suddenly the palace of the king stood there in readiness. Elijah disappeared (Rabb. Nissim, "hibbur Yafeh meha-Yeshu'ah," near end). This story has been beautifully worked over in the piyyut. "Ish hasid," which is sung, according to the German-Polish ritual, on Sabbath evening.

Elijah the Friend of the Pious.

In olden times there were a number of select ones with whom Elijah had intercourse as with his equals, they being at the time aware of his identity. In Talmudic-Midrashic literature are the following stories: Eliezer ben Hyrcanus was brought by Elijah to Jerusalem to receive instruction there from Johanan ben Zakkai (PirKe R. El. i.). In the great controversy between this teacher and his colleagues, Elijah communicated to Rabbi Nathan what the opinion concerning this controversy was in heaven (B. M. 59b). The same Nathan was also instructed by him with reference to the right measure in eating and drinking (Git. 70a). A special pet of Elijah seems to have been Nehorai, whom he instructed with reference to Biblical passages, and explained to him also some of the phenomena of nature (Yer. Ber. ix. 13c; Ruth R. iv.). Another teacher, called "Jose" (probably not Jose b. halafta), was so familiar with Elijah that he was not afraid to declare openly that Elijah had a rough temper (Sanh. 113a). The words of Elijah to Judah, the brother of Salla the Pious, read: "Be not angry, and you will not sin; drink not, and you will not sin" (Ber. 29b). Besides this friendly advice the pious Judah received important instructions from Elijah (Yoma 19b; Sanh. 97b). Rabbah ben Shila (hag. 15b), Rabbah ben Abbahu (hag. 15b; B. M. 114b), Abiathar (Git. 6b), Kahana (Kid. 41a), Bar He He (hag. 9b), are also mentioned as among the pious who personally communicated with Elijah. Besides these, some others whose names are not given are mentioned as having been in friendly relations with Elijah (B. B. 7b; Yer. Ter. i. 40d; see also Ket. 61a). What kind of people Elijah selected may be seen from the following: Of two pious brothers, one allowed his servants to partake only of the first course at meals, whereas the other allowed them to partake of every course. Elijah did not visit the first, whereas he frequently visited the latter. In like manner he treated two brothers, one of whom served himself first, and then his guests, whereas the other cared for his guests first (Ket. l.c.). The demands of Elijah upon his friends were very strict, and the least mistake alienated him. One of his friends built a vestibule, whereby the poor were at a disadvantage in that their petitioning voices could be heard in the house only with great difficulty; as a result Elijah never came to him again (B. B. 7b).

Very characteristic of Elijah is his relation to the Babylonian amora Anan. A man brought Anan some small fish as a present, which he would not accept, because the man wished to submit to him a law case for decision. The petitioner, however, sooner than have the rabbi refuse his gift, decided to take his case elsewhere, and requested Anan to direct him to another rabbi; this Anan did. The rabbi before whom the case was tried showed himself very friendly toward the man because he had been recommended to him by Anan, and decided in his favor. Elijah, till then Anan's teacher and friend, deserted him from that moment, because, through his carelessness, judgment had been biased (Ket. 105b). The Midrash Tanna debe Eliyahu, in which Elijah often speaks of himself in the first person, recounting his experiences and teaching many lessons, is likewise associated with Anan, who is said to have compiled the work from Elijah's own discourses.

Joshua b. Levi and Elijah.

None of the pious could boast of such a close relation to Elijah as could Joshua b. Levi, to fulfill whose wishes Elijah was always ready, although he sometimes showed himself very severe toward him (Yer. Ter. viii. 4b; Yer. Sheb. ix. 31a; Mak. 11a). Elijah once brought about an interview between Joshua and the Messiah (Sanh. 98a), and he also showed Joshua the precious stones which, according to the words of the prophet (Isa. liv. 11, 12), shall replace the sun in giving light to Jerusalem (PesiK. xviii. 136a). But more precious than these sacred revelations were the lessons which Joshua received from Elijah, especially the doctrine of the theodicy, which Elijah tried to explain to his friend by means of illustrations. Joshua once asked Elijah to take him along on his journeys through the world. To this the prophet yielded on condition that Joshua should never question him concerning the causes of his actions, strange as they might appear; should this condition be violated, the prophet would be obliged to part from him. Both set out upon their journey. The first halt was at the house of a poor man who owned only a cow, but who, with his wife, received the strangers most kindly, and entertained them to the best of his ability. Before they continued their journey next morning, the rabbi heard Elijah pray that God might destroy the poor man's cow, and before they had left the hospitable house the cow was dead. Joshua could not contain himself, but in great excitement said to Elijah: "Is this the reward which the poor man receives for his hospitality toward us?" The prophet reminded him of the condition upon which they had undertaken the journey, and silently they continued on their way. Toward evening they came to the house of a rich man who did not even look at them, so that they had to pass the night without food and drink. In the morning when they left the inhospitable house, Joshua heard Elijah pray that God would build up a wall which had fallen in one of the rich man's houses. At once the wall stood erect. This increased the agitation of the rabbi still more; but remembering the condition which had been imposed upon him, he kept silent. On the next evening they came to a synagogue adorned with silver and gold, none of whose rich members showed any concern for the poor travelers, but dismissed them with bread and water. Upon leaving the place Joshua heard Elijah pray that God would make them all leaders ("heads"). Joshua was about to break his promise, but forced himself to go on in silence again. In the next city they met very generous people who vied with one another in performing acts of kindness toward the strangers. Great, then, was the surprise of Joshua when, upon leaving the place, he heard the prophet pray that God might give them only "one head."

Elijah Explains His Actions.

Joshua could not refrain any longer, and asked, Elijah to explain to him his strange actions, although he knew that by asking he would forfeit the prophet's companionship. Elijah answered: "The poor but generous man lost his cow because of my prayer, for I knew that his wife was about to die, and I asked God to take the life of the cow instead of that of the wife. My prayer for the heartless rich man was because under the fallen wall was a great treasure which would have come into the hands of this unworthy man had he undertaken to rebuild it. It was also no blessing which I pronounced upon the unfriendly synagogue, for a 'place which has many heads will not be of long duration'; on the other hand, I wished for the others, the good people, 'one head,' that union and peace may always be among them." This is a widely circulated legend, first found in Nissim ben Jacob's "hibbur Yafeh," 1886, pp. 9-12, and reprinted in Jellinek's "Bet ha-Midrash," v. 133-135 (vi. 131-133 gives another version). For Judæo-German and other renderings of this legend see Zunz, "G. V." 2d ed., p. 138. The antiquity of the legend may be seen from the fact that Mohammed mentions it in the Koran, sura xviii. 59-82; compare also "R. E. J." viii. 69-73.

Besides Joshua ben Levi, Elijah showed another rabbi, Baroka by name, that things must not be judged from outward appearances. Once they were in a lively street of a great city, when the rabbi asked Elijah whether there were any in the multitude who would have a place in the world to come. The prophet could give an affirmative answer in regard to three men only: a jailer and two jesters—the first, because he saw to it that chastity and morality prevailed among the inmates of the prison; the latter, because they tried by their jests to banish all anxious thoughts from the people (Ta'an. 22a).
(see image) The Prophet Elijah.(From a printed Passover Haggadah, Prague, 1526.)

The Tannaim and Amoraim are not the only ones who could boast of the special favor of Elijah. The mystics and cabalists of all times frequently appealed to Elijah as their patron. Among them was the gaon Joseph, of whom it was said that Elijah was a daily visitor at his academy (First Epistle of Sherira, ed. Neubauer, p. 32). The introduction of the Cabala to Provence is traced directly to Elijah, who revealed the secret doctrine to Jacob ha-Nozer. Similarly Abraham b. Isaac and Abraham ben David of Posquières are mentioned as privileged ones, to whom Elijah appeared (see Jellinek, "Auswahl Kabbalistischer Mystik," pp. 4, 5). The pseudonymous author of the "Kanah" asserted that he had received his teachings directly from Elijah. In the Zohar, Simon ben Yohai and his son Eleazar are mentioned as among those who enjoyed the special friendship of Elijah. This work, as well as the TiKKun Zohar and the Zohar hadash, contains muchthat is ascribed to Elijah (compare Friedmann, "Seder Eliyahu Rabba we-Seder Eliyahu Zuta," pp. 38-41). When, toward the middle of the fourteenth century, the Cabala received new prominence in Palestine, Elijah again took a leading part. Joseph de la Regna asks Elijah's advice in his combat with Satan. The father of the new cabalistic school, Isaac Luria, was visited by Elijah before his son was born. In like manner, the father of Israel Ba'al Shem-tob received the good news from Elijah that a son would be born unto him, "who would be a light in Israel" ("Ma'asiyyot Peliot," pp. 24, 25, Cracow, 1896, which contains an interesting narrative of Elijah's meeting with the father of Ba'al Shem-tob).

Elijah as the Forerunner of the Messiah.
(see image) Elijah Announcing the Coming of the Messiah.(From an illuminated Mahzor in the town hall of Frankfort-on-the-Main.)

The climax of Elijah's activity is his appearance shortly before the Messianic time. "He is appointed to lead aright the coming ages, to restore the tribes of Jacob," says Ben Sira of him (Ecclus. [Sirach] xlviii. 10, 11). In the second half of the first Christian century it was expected that Elijah would appear shortly before the coming of the Messiah, to restore to families the purity which in the course of time had become doubtful ('Eduy. viii. 7; this is the opinion of Johanan b. Zakkai). A century later the notion prevailed that Elijah's office was "to bring peace and adjust all differences" (ib.). It was expected that all controversies and legal disputes which had accumulated in the course of time would be adjusted by him, and that difficult ritual questions and passages of Scripture seemingly conflicting with each other would be explained, so that no difference of opinion would exist concerning anything (Men. 45b; Ab. R. N. xxxiv.; Num. R. iii., near the end; compare also Jew. Encyc. i. 637a). The office of interpreter of the Law he will retain forever, and in the world to come his relation to Moses will be the same as Aaron's once was (Zohar, Ẓaw, iii. 27, bottom). But the notion which prevailed at the time of the origin of Christianity, that Elijah's mission as forerunner of the Messiah consisted mainly in changing the mind of the people and leading them to repentance, is not unknown to rabbinical literature (PirKe R. El. xliii., xlvii.). His real Messianic activity—in some passages he is even called "go'el" (="redeemer"; compare Friedmann, l.c. pp. 25, 26)—will commence three days before the coming ofthe Messiah. On the first day he will lament over the devastation of Palestine, but will close with the words: "Peace will now come over the earth"; on the second and third days he will speak words of comfort (PesiK. R. xxxv. 161; Elijah as the "good messenger of salvation" is a frequent figure in the apocalyptic midrashim). When the archangel Michael blows the trumpet, Elijah will appear with the Messiah, whom he will present to the Jews ("Otot ha-Mashiah," in Jellinek, "B. H." ii. 62, 125; see Eschatology). They will ask of Elijah, as an attestation of his mission, that he raise the dead before their eyes and revive such of the dead as they personally knew (Shir ha-Shirim Zuta, ed. Buber, 38, end; compare also Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch; Bousset, "The Antichrist Legend," p. 203).

The Seven Miracles.

But he will do more than this, in that he will perform seven miracles before the eyes of the people: (1) He will bring before them Moses and the generation of the wilderness; (2) he will cause Korah and his company to rise out of the earth; (3) he will revive the Messiah, the son of Joseph; (4) he will show them again the three mysteriously lost sacred utensils of the Temple, namely, the Ark, the vessel of manna, and the vessel of sacred oil (see Antichrist); (5) he will show the scepter which he received from God; (6) he will crush mountains like straw; (7) he will reveal the great mystery (Jellinek, l.c. iii. 72). At the bidding of the Messiah, Elijah will sound the trumpet, and at the first blast the primitive light will appear; at the second, the dead will rise; and at the third, the Divine Majesty will appear (Jellinek, l.c. v. 128). During the Messianic reign Elijah will be one of the eight princes (Micah v. 4), and even on the Last Day he will not give up his activity. He will implore God's mercy for the wicked who are in hell, while their innocent children who died in infancy on account of the sins of their fathers, are in paradise. Thus he will complete his mission, in that God, moved by his prayer, will bring the sinful fathers to their children in paradise (Eccl. R. iv. 1). He will bring to an end his glorious career by killing Samael at the behest of God, and thus destroy all evil (YalKut hadash, ed. Radawil, 58a). Compare Elijah's Chair.

Bibliography: Bousset, The Antichrist Legend, s.v.;
Friedmann, Seder Eliyahu Rabba we-Seder Eliyahu Zuta, pp. 1-44, Warsaw, 1902;
S[amuel] K[ohn], Der Prophet Elia in der Legende, in Monatsschrift, xii. 241 et seq., 361 et seq.;
Ginzberg, Die Haggada bei den Kirchenvätern, i. 76-80.S. S. L. G.

—In Mohammedan Literature:

Elijah is mentioned in the Koran as a prophet together with Zechariah, John, and Jesus (sura vi. 85); while in sura xxxvii. 123-130 it is said: "Verily, Elijah [Ilyas] was of the prophets, when he said to his people, 'Will ye call upon Baal and leave the best of creators, God, your Lord?'" In verse 130 he is called "Ilyasin": "Peace upon Ilyasin, thus do we reward those who do well."

According to Baiḍawi, the people to whom Elijah was sent were the inhabitants of Baalbek in Cle-Syria. When Elijah made his appearance as a prophet the king (Ibn al-Athir says that the king's name was Ahab, but places him after Ezekiel) believed in him, though the people did not. The king made Elijah his vizier, and both worshiped God. But the king soon apostatized, and Elijah separated from him. The prophet then afflicted the country with famine, and no one save himself had bread to eat; so that if one noticed the odor of bread he said: "Elijah must have passed this way."

One day Elijah came into the house of an old woman who had a paralytic child named Elisha ibn Ukhtub. Elijah cured the child, who remained with the prophet, and, after Elijah's translation, became his successor.

The Jewish tradition that Elijah is identical with Phinehas is current among the Moslems also. They have, moreover, another tradition borrowed from the Jews. Elijah, they say, will appear on the last day, and either he or one of his descendants will await, in the interior of a mountain, the second coming of the Messiah.

Certain Islamic authorities confound Elijah with Al-Khiḍr (= "the green" or "fresh one"), famous in Mohammedan literature on account of his having discovered the fountain of perpetual youth. Even their names have been combined in "Khiḍr-Ilyas" or "Khiḍralas." Other authorities, among them the author of the "Ta'rikh Muntahab," distinguish Elijah from Al-Khiḍr, whom they identify with Elisha. They believe that, while the latter is the guardian of the sea, Elijah is the guardian of the desert (the idea originating, doubtless, in the fact that Elijah hid himself in the desert; I Kings xix. 4).

Elijah's translation is thus described by the Moslems: God had told Elijah in a vision to go out of the town and to mount anything which he might see before him. He departed with his disciple Elisha, and, seeing a horse, mounted it. God covered him with feathers, enveloped him with fire, took away from him the desire of eating and drinking, and joined him to His angels. According to Ibn al-Athir, God made Elijah of a twofold nature: man and angel, earthly and heavenly.

Bibliography: Ibn al-Athir, Al-Ta'rikh al-Kamil, i. 90, 91, Cairo, 1891-92;
Tabari, Chroniques (French transl. of Zotenberg), i. 374, 381, 409-411;
Rampoldi, Annali Musulmani, iv. 491, vi. 549, Milan, 1822-25;
E. Rödiger, in Ersch and Gruber, Encyc. section i., part 33, p. 324;
D'Herbelot, Bibliothèque Orientale, iii. 345, s.v. Ilia;
Hughes, Dict. of Islam, s.v.E. G. H. M. Sel.

—In Medieval Folk-Lore:

Owing to his ubiquitousness and to the universal belief that he remained after his departure from the earth the ever-ready helper of the Jew, Elijah the prophet became the prototype of the Wandering Jew. Many characteristics of wandering deities and heroes like those of Buddha, of Zeus, and of Thor and Wodan who were believed to wander about the earth to test the piety and hospitality of the people, hence also those of Khiḍr, the Arabic legendary hero, were incorporated in the history of Elijah. He was accordingly expected to appear from time to time, especially on solemn occasions, as "the angel of the covenant," the genius of Jewish home sanctity who keeps a record of every mésalliance (Kid. 70a). He was believed to be present as the angel of the covenant at the circumcision (see Elijah's Chair), or to appear as a guest at the Seder and as protector of the Jewish household whenever the door was opened on that night. Every Saturday evening his blessedintervention was invoked for the work of the new week; hence the many mystic formulas in the cabalistic liturgy for the close of the Sabbath.

He was often identified with other heroes of Jewish legend to whom immortality was attributed, such as Melchizedek, who had no father or mother, and Enoch-Metatron, who is said to have been a shoemaker by profession (YalK. Reubeni, Bereshit, 27a and 9d), and this seems to explain the original story of the Wandering Jew.

Bibliography: A. Tendlau, Sprichwörter und Redensarten Deutsch-Jüdischer Vorzeit, pp. 14-16, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1860;
idem, Das Buch der Sagen und Legenden Jüdischer Vorzeit, notes to Nos. 3, 28, Frankfort, 1873;
L. Geiger, Zeitschrift für die Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland, iii. 297;
Mannhardt, Germanische Mythen, pp. 118, 725, Berlin, 1858;
Nork, Etymologisches Mythologisches Wörterbuch, s.v. Elias.K.

Sources.

—Critical View:

The stories of Elijah are not all derived from the same author. This is evident, first, from the fact that the longer form of the name () is used (about sixty times) everywhere except in II Kings i. 3-12 and (in reference to other persons of the name) in I Chron. viii. 27; Ezra x. 21, 26. Then, too, there is a significant disagreement between I Kings xix. 15 et seq., where Elijah is commissioned to anoint Kings Hazael and Jehu, and II Kings viii. 7 et seq., ix. 1 et seq., where it is said that these two kings were appointed by Elisha. Neither of these stories, however, bears marks of exilic or post-exilic origin, for the compound prepositions (I Kings xviii. 19) or (xxi. 29) are not a proof of such origin, although the latter preposition is often used by preference in the post-exilic period. It is also obvious that the mention of the sacrifice (I Kings xviii. 36) does not stamp the story as post-exilic (contrary to G. Rösch, "Der Prophet Elia," in "Theologische Studien und Kritiken," 1892, pp. 557 et seq.; comp. Ed. König, "Einleitung ins Alte Testament," p. 264).

Many scholars, nevertheless, consider the stories legendary; and, although something extraordinary must have happened at Mt. Carmel, it can not be denied that the miraculous incidents of the prophet's career may have been magnified as they passed on from generation to generation. The account of the destruction of the two captains and their soldiers may be taken as an example of this; and, indeed, the fact that the shorter form of the prophet's name is used proves the account to be undoubtedly of later origin.

Some modern scholars regard the stories as mythological—Hugo Winckler, for instance, in his "Geschichte Israels" (1900, ii. 273).

Three other persons by the name of Elijah are mentioned in the Old Testament: a Benjamite who lived before the time of Saul (I Chron. viii. 27), and two persons of the post-exilic period (Ezra x. 21, 26).

Messiah

2008-12-01T12:31:00.000-08:00

MESSIAH By : Joseph Jacobs Moses Buttenwieser

ARTICLE HEADINGS:
The Ideal in Isaiah.
The "Immanuel" Passage.
In Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
Ideal of the Second Isaiah.
In the Apocrypha.
Alexander as Messiah.
Rise of Popular Belief in a Personal Messiah.
Development of Conception.
In the Older Apocalyptic Literature.
In the Psalms of Solomon.
In the Testaments of the Patriarchs.
The Heavenly Messiah.
In Rabbinic Literature.
Heavenly Preexistence.
Earthly Preexistence.
Messiah ben Joseph.

The Name. The name or title of the ideal king of the Messianic age; used also without the article as a proper name—"Mashiaḥ" (in the Babylonian Talmud and in the midrash literature), like Χριστός in the Gospels. The Grecized Μεσσιας of the New Testament (John i. 41, iv. 25) is a transliteration of the Aramaic form, Aramaic being the spoken language of Palestine in the time of 1st Century CE. "The Messiah" (with the article and not in apposition with another word) is, however, not an Old Testament expression, but occurs for the first time in apocalyptic literature. Similarly, in all probability the use of the word "Mashiaḥ" to denote the Messianic king is not found earlier than the apocalyptic literature. In the Old Testament the earliest use of the word is with Yhwh (or with a pronominal suffix referring to Yhwh) as a title of the ruling sovereign Meshiaḥ Yhwh ("God's anointed one"; I Sam. ii. 10, 35; xii. 3, 5; xvi. 6; xxvi. 9, 11, 16, 23; II Sam. i. 14, 16; xix. 21; II Chron. vi. 42; Ps. xviii. 51 [A. V. 50]; xx. 7 [A. V. 6]; cxxxii. 17 [applying to David]; Lam. iv. 20). In post-exilic times, the high priest, filling the place formerly occupied by the king, is spoken of as "ha-Kohen ha-Mashiaḥ" (the anointed priest; Lev. iv. 3, 5, 16; vi. 5), also (Dan. ix. 25, 26) as "Mashiaḥ Nagid" (an anointed one, a ruler) and simply "Mashiaḥ" (an anointed one), referring to Onias III. As the anointing of the high priest consecrated him above all his brethren to God's service and gave him immediate access to God (comp. Lev. viii. 12, xxi. 10-12; Zech. iii. 7), so the anointing of the king made him Meshiaḥ Yhwh, placed him in a special relationship to God, and established him as the one chosen by God to represent His rulership in Israel and to bear witness to His glory before the nations (comp. II Sam. vii. 8-11, 14; Isa. lv. 4; Ps. lxxxix. 4, 21-29). As "God's anointed one" the king was sacrosanct and inviolable (comp. I Sam. xxvi. 9). Hence the later applications of the title "Meshiaḥ Yhwh" in the Old Testament.

In Isa. xlv. 1 Cyrus is called "God's anointed one," because God has called him and given him victory after victory for the distinct purpose of putting an end to the Babylonian kingdom and the worship of idols, of setting free exiled Israel, and thus introducing the new era of God's universal dominion. In Ps. cv. 15 the Patriarchs are called "God's anointed ones" because they are under the special protection of God and therefore inviolable. Finally, in Hab. iii. 13, Ps. xxviii. 8, lxxxiv. 10 (A. V.9), and possibly in lxxxix. 39, 52 (A. V. 38, 51), the title is applied to Israel, God's chosen people. See Anointing.

"Mashiaḥ" (anointed one of God) in Ps. ii. 2, which was formerly thought to have Messianic reference, is now taken as referring either to a Hasmonean king or to Israel. The latter interpretation is that prevailing in the Midrash (comp. Midr. Rabbah and Tanḥuma, Emor; Yalḳuṭ, Toledot, near end; Midr. Shoḥer Ṭob, ad loc.), though the Messianic interpretation occurs in the eschatological description (Pesiḳ. Zuṭarta, Balaḳ).

The Ideal in Isaiah.

But though the name is of later origin, the idea of a personal Messiah runs through the Old Testament. It is the natural outcome of the prophetic future hope. The first prophet to give a detailed picture of the future ideal king was Isaiah (ix. 1-6, xi. 1-10, xxxii. 1-5). Of late the authenticity of these passages, and also of those passages in Jeremiah and Ezekiel which give expression to the hope in a Messiah, has been disputed by various Biblical scholars (comp. Hackmann, "Die Zukunftserwartung des Jesaiah"; Volz, "Die Vorexilische Jahweprophetie und der Messias"; Marti, "Gesch. der Israelitischen Religion," pp. 190 et seq.; idem, "Das Buch Jesaia"; Cheyne, "Introduction to Isaiah," and edition and transl. of Isaiah in "S. B. O. T.").

The objections of these scholars, however, rest principally on the hypothesis that the idea of the Messiah is inseparably bound up with the desire for universal dominion, whereas, in reality, this feature is not a characteristic of the Messianic hope until a later stage of its development. The ideal king to whom Isaiah looks forward will be a scion of the stock of Jesse, on whom will rest the spirit of God as a spirit of wisdom, valor, and religion, and who will rule in the fear of God, his loins girt with righteousness and faithfulness (xi. 1-3a, 5). He will not engage in war or in the conquest of nations; the paraphernalia of war will be destroyed (ix. 4); his sole concern will be to establish justice among his people (ix. 6b; xi. 3b, 4). The fruit of his righteous government will be peace and order throughout the land. The lamb will not dread the wolf, nor will the leopard harm the kid (xi. 8); that is, as the following verse explains, tyranny and violence will no longer be practised on God's holy mountain, for the land will be full of the knowledge of God as the water covers the sea (comp. xxxii. 1, 2, 16). The people will not aspire to political greatness, but will lead a pastoral life (xxxii. 18, 20). Under such ideal conditions the country can not but prosper, nor need it fear attack from outside nations (ix. 6a, xxxii. 15). The newly risen scion of Jesse will stand forth as a beacon to other nations, and they will come to him for guidance and arbitration (xi. 10). He will rightly be called "Wonderful Counselor," "Godlike Hero," "Constant Father," "Prince of Peace" (ix. 5).

The "Immanuel" Passage.

This picture of the future fully accords with Isaiah's view, that the judgment will lead to a spiritual regeneration and bring about a state of moral and religious perfection; and it agrees also with the doctrine, which, in his bitter opposition to the alliances with Assyria and Egypt, he preached to his people—the doctrine, namely, that their sole concern should be God and their sole reliance be on Him, for thus, and thus only, might they endure (vii. 9; comp. also v. 4, viii. 13, xxx. 15). The prophets advocated a government which would be in conformity with God's will and be regulated by His laws of righteousness. In connection with Isaiah's Messianic hope it remains to be observed that the "Immanuel" passage, Isa. vii. 14, which is interpreted in xxxx. i. 23 as referring to the birth of xxxx, has, as Robertson Smith ("The Prophets of Israel," pp. 271 et seq., 426 et seq.) and others have pointed out, no Messianic import whatever. The name has reference merely to events of the immediate present. He means to give a token by which the truth of his prophetic word may be tested, saying that any young woman giving birth to a son in the near future will call him "Immanuel" (= "God with us"), in remembrance of the withdrawal of the Syrian-Ephraimitic armies from the country (v. 16). "'Almah" does not mean "virgin" (as given in A. V. and other versions; the only word meaning this is "betulah"), but "a young woman sexually mature," whether married or unmarried; the article "ha-" of "ha-'almah" is the generic article.

In Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

The idea of a personal Messiah is not met with again until the time of Jeremiah and Ezekiel (the Messianic picture of Micah v. 1, 3-8, as is proved by the fact that in it Israel and the Messiah hold dominion over the nations, according to this view can not be a pre-exilic product of prophecy; in fact, it must have originated late in post-exilic times). Jeremiah's picture of the Messiah is not a detailed one; but, like his future hope in general, it agrees in all essentials with that of Isaiah. The Messiah will be "a righteous sprout of David," who will establish just judgment and wise government in the country, and whose name will be (= "God is our salvation"; xxiii. 5, 6; these two verses recur in almost the same form in xxxiii. 15, 16, but in the latter verse the name is applied to Jerusalem, an application which did not originate with Jeremiah. Ch. xxx. 9 et seq., 21 does not claim consideration here, as it is of later origin).

In Ezekiel, the Messiah is a purely passive figure, the only personal reference to him being in xvii. 23—"he will become a mighty cedar" (Hebr.). The regeneration of the people, like their restoration, is exclusively the work of God.

But in xxxiv. 23 et seq., xxxvii. 24 et seq., which passages date from exilic times, there is an entirely new feature—the prophecy that David will be the king of the future state. As after the decline of the Holy Roman Empire the saga arose of the return of the emperor-hero Barbarossa, so, after the fall of the nation, the Jews of the Exile dreamed of the coming of a second David, who would reestablish them as a glorious nation. So Ezekiel lays emphasis on the fact that the future Israel is to be a united nation as it was under David of old. The hope in the return of David is expressed also in the spurious passage mentioned above (Jer. xxx. 9) and in the gloss to Hos. iii. 5 ("and David their king"), and ismet with sporadically also in Neo-Hebraic apocalyptic literature (see below).

In post-exilic prophetic literature the hope in a Messiah is found only in the first two prophets of the post-exilic community, Haggai and Zechariah, and in Deutero-Zechariah, ch. ix., which, probably, dates from the time of the Seleucids. Haggai and Zechariah see in Zerubbabel the promised "sprout of David"; but they state merely that he will rebuild the Temple and attain great eminence as a ruler (Hag. ii. 23; Zech. iii. 8, vi. 12).

Deutero-Zechariah's Messiah has much in common with Isaiah's. He is described (Zech. ix. 9, 10) as a righteous Prince of Peace, who will rise from the ranks of the pious and oppressed, who will ride into Jerusalem not in military splendor, but on an ass (comp. xxxxxx' entry into Jerusalem on an ass, and also Ibn Ḳuṭaibah's account of Salman, the governor of Medina at the time of the dissensions of the califs, who rode upon an ass in order to show his advocacy of peace). For, unlike worldly rulers, he will not maintain his dominion by the sword—he will destroy all the instruments of war (if, instead of , is read in accordance with the LXX. , 3d s. m.); but, by his jurisdiction, which will extend to the ends of the earth, he will establish peace among the nations. Thus Deutero-Zechariah's conception of the Messiah combines Isaiah's conception with the hope of world-dominion cherished by his own age.

Ideal of the Second Isaiah.

The personal Messiah does not figure at all in the future hope of Deutero-Isaiah, whose lofty universalism marks the final step in the development of the religious ideas of the Prophets. The salvation of mankind is the goal of history, and Israel's prerogative becomes but the privilege of suffering for the good of the whole world. God has called Israel for the realization of His purpose toward man. Israel, and not an individual, is "the servant of God" (Isa. xlii. 1-6, xlix. 1-6, l. 4-9, lii. 13-liii. 12), through whom the regeneration of mankind will be accomplished, who will spread the true religion among all nations, convert all men into willing servants of God, and lead all tongues to confess Him (xlv. 23). Naturally, not the actual Israel of the present is meant, but the ideal Israel of the future, risen to spiritual heights in consequence of his wonderful deliverance by God. For this high destiny Israel has been especially fitted by reason of the religious experience which God has stored up in him in the course of his history; and, by submitting, in accordance with God's will, to suffering and ignominy, he fulfils his mission and advances toward his final goal. In Isa. ii. 1-4 and Micah iv. 1-4 there is the same picture of the Messianic future as in Deutero-Isaiah—Jerusalem as the religious center of the world, whence salvation will radiate to all men—but contain the additional promise that universal peace will ensue in consequence thereof. In like manner the post-exilic prophets Trito-Isaiah, Malachi, and Joel, and the post-exilic Apocalypse of Isaiah, xxiv.-xxvii., have no personal Messiah. According to them, God Himself, without the instrumentality of a man, will redeem Israel from his present misery and bring about the new era of salvation. The conclusion, however, of Malachi (the authorship of which is doubtful) speaks of a messenger, Elijah, whom God will send to convert men and thus pave the way for His own coming.

In the Apocrypha.

As in the prophetic writings just enumerated, so in the Apocrypha of the Old Testament the figure of the Messiah has no prominence whatever. In I Maccabees there is a brief general reference to the promise given to David, that his throne would be reestablished (ii. 57), but Ecclesiasticus, Judith, Tobit, Baruch, II Maccabees, and the Wisdom of Solomon contain no mention of the Davidic hope. The Hellenistic author of the Wisdom of Solomon is so thoroughly universalistic that the idea of a Messiah is precluded. His eschatological picture shows no nationalistic feature whatever.

Alexander as Messiah.

The natural deduction from the facts thus far outlined is that while from the time of the Prophets the belief in an ideal future determined the character and tendency of Jewish religious life and thought to such an extent that this belief may be called the special characteristic of the Jewish genius, still, in the periods thus far covered, the idea of a personal Messiah is far from having that general prominence which one would, at first, be inclined to assume. Further, it has been seen how Deutero-Isaiah heralded Cyrus as the favorite of God, the hero called by God to introduce the new era of universal bliss. In like manner, no doubt, as Kampers has shown in his "Alexander der Grosse und die Idee des Weltimperiums in Prophetie und Sage," the Jewish contemporaries of Alexander the Great, dazzled by his glorious achievements, hailed him as the divinely appointed deliverer, the inaugurator of the period of universal peace promised by the Prophets. Proof of this is: (1) The legend related in Josephus ("Ant." xi. 8) and in the Talmud (Yoma 67b) of the audience of the high priest Jaddua (in the Talmud it is Simon the Just) with Alexander the Great in Gaza. Alexander recognizes in the high priest the man who had appeared to him in a dream, urging him to the conquest of Asia and promising him that he himself would lead his army and deliver the Persian kingdom into his hands; he prostrates himself to worship God, whose name he sees inscribed on the plate of gold on the high priest's cidaris, accompanies the high priest to Jerusalem to sacrifice to God in His Temple, and is there shown the Book of Daniel, in which it is written that the Persian kingdom will be conquered by a Greek—a prophecy which Alexander applies to himself. (2) The various sagas which sprang up about Alexander, chiefly among the Jews in Alexandria, and out of which the Alexander romance of pseudo-Callisthenes grew, the only explanation of which is that Alexander had once been the central figure in their future hope. (3) The apocalyptic traditions about Alexander the Great in medieval apocalyptic literature and also in the midrashic literature—for example, the tradition (mentioned by Josephus) of Alexander imprisoning Gog and Magog behind the mountains of darkness in the far north. The version of this legend given by Jacob of Serug (521 C.E.) and in the Koran, sura 18 (comp.Kampers, l.c. pp. 73, 76 et seq.) leaves no doubt that it was purely of apocalyptic origin.

But while all these hopes centering in Alexander the Great bear witness to the liberality and broad-mindedness of the Jews of that time, they, on the other hand, corroborate the conclusion, expressed above, that the hope in the Messiah had, as yet, no definite form and can not have been commonly an article of faith. This is true, not only of the time of Alexander the Great, but even as late as the first period of apocalyptic literature, and is proved by the absence of a personal Messiah in the oldest apocalyptic writing, the Book of Daniel, as well as in the oldest part of the Book of Enoch ("The Apocalypse of the Ten Weeks") and in the Book of Jubilees, which also date from the Maccabean period, apart from the fact, pointed out above, that in the contemporaneous apocrypha there is but vague reference to the Messiah. The "one of the likeness of man" ("ke-bar enash") of Dan. vii. 13 (Hebr.), to whom the rulership in the divine world-monarchy will be entrusted, is, according to the author's own explanation (vii. 18, 22, 27), the nation of God's holy ones (i.e., the faithful Jews). These constitute the earthly representatives of God in the "civitas Dei," and in contrast to the other nations of the world, who are represented under the figures of animals, they are represented under the figure of a man in order to signify that in them the divine ideal of manhood has preserved itself most faithfully.

Rise of Popular Belief in a Personal Messiah.

Not until after the fall of the Maccabean dynasty, when the despotic government of Herod the Great and his family, and the increasing tyranny of the Roman empire had made their condition ever more unbearable, did the Jews seek refuge in the hope of a personal Messiah. They yearned for the promised deliverer of the house of David, who would free them from the yoke of the hated foreign usurper, would put an end to the impious Roman rule, and would establish His own reign of peace and justice in its place. In this way their hopes became gradually centered in the Messiah. As evidence that in the Roman period the Messianic hope had become universal among the Jews may be adduced: (1) xxxxx' conviction that he was the Messiah, a conviction inspired in him by the current belief in a Messiah, as is shown by the fact that on his entry into Jerusalem the populace hailed him as such; (2) the testimony of Josephus ("B. J." vi. 5, § 4), Tacitus ("Hist." v. 13), and Suetonius (Vespasian, iv.) regarding the Messianic belief of the Jewish people at that time; (3) the fact that even in Philo's picture of the future, in spite of its moralistic tendency, the Messianic king has a place (comp. "De Præmiis et Pœnis," § 16). It may be noted in this connection that the "Prayer for the Coming of the Messiah," as the version of it given both in the Babylonian and in the Palestinian recensions of the Shemoneh 'Esreh shows (see Nos. 14 and 15 respectively), can not have become an integral part of the daily prayers later than the time immediately following the destruction of the Temple, for in that period the "Shemoneh 'Esreh" received its present form. Hillel's assertion (Sanh. 98b) that there would be no future Messiah for Israel since the latter had had its Messiah in the days of Hezekiah, can have no weight as a contrary argument, as Hillel lived in the reign of Herod the Great, at the beginning of the period which marks the development of the popular belief in the Messiah.

Development of Conception.

As the future hopes of the Jews became Messianic in character the figure of the Messiah assumed a central and permanent place in apocalyptic literature; and as apocalyptic literature in general, so the Messiah-concept in particular, embodies a multitude of bizarre fantasies which can not possibly be reconciled or woven into anything like a connected picture. There are many factors which contributed to this manifold and variegated imagery. Not only was all the Messianic and quasi-Messianic material of the Scriptures collected, and out of it, by means of subtle combinations, after the manner of the Midrash, a picture of the Messiah sedulously drawn, but everything poetical or figurative in the Prophets' descriptions of the future was taken in a literal sense and expounded and dogmatized accordingly. Many foreign elements, moreover, crept in at this time and became part of the general potpourri of imagery relating to the Messiah. This being the case, an exceedingly complex and difficult question arises—where, in the Messiah-pictures, and, indeed, in the pictures of the future in general, presented by apocalyptic literature, has one to deal with organic development from prophetic ideas, and where with foreign religious elements? At present it is not possible to form a final judgment in regard to the place of origin of these foreign ideas. The material from the Assyro-Babylonian religion and mythology which has been offered in recent years by Assyriologists shows what an involved question is presented in this one point, and that a series of preliminary and exhaustive studies is necessary before a final decision can be reached regarding it or the various questions bound up with it. The one thing safe to maintain in this connection is, perhaps, that, according to the time at which the heterogeneous character of the conceptions becomes noticeable in the literature, Alexandria must have had a prominent part in the fusion of the native and foreign elements, since that city had been from the time of Alexander the Great the seat of religious syncretism as well as the intellectual metropolis of the civilized world.

For the better understanding of the Messianic pictures in apocalyptic literature it is important to point out that, although frequently interlaced, two distinct sets of ideas may be traced—the one set concerned with this world, hence realistic and national; the other directed to the world to come, hence transcendent and universalistic. The Messiah presents a correspondingly double character. Side by side with the traditional idea of an earthly king of the house of David is the new conception of a heavenly preexistent Messiah, from which it follows that in regard to the question of the Messiah the older apocalyptic literature, as well as the younger rabbinical branch, falls naturally into two groups.

In the Older Apocalyptic Literature.

In the older apocalyptic literature the first book to be mentioned in which the Messiah figures as an earthly king is "The Vision of the Seventy Shepherds of the Book of Enoch" (ch. lxxxv.-xc.) of the time of John Hyrcanus (135-105 B.C.). The Messiah appears under the figure of a white bull at the conclusion of the world-drama (xc. 37 et seq.) and commands the respect and fear of all the heathen, who eventually become converted to God. Yet he does not take any actual rôle. It is God Himself who wards off the last attack of the heathen against Israel, gives judgment, and establishes the world-dominion of Israel. Second in this group come those parts of the Sibylline Books whose date, as Geffken's recent critical analysis has established ("Komposition und Entstehungszeit der Oracula Sibyllina," pp. 7-13), is about the year 83 B.C. The Messiah is pictured (verses 652-666) as a king sent by God from the rising of the sun, who will put an end to war all over the earth, inasmuch as he will destroy some peoples and make permanent treaties with the others; in all his actions he will be solicitous not to follow his own counsel, but to obey the commands of God. The writer then describes at length the attack by the heathen nations on the magnificent Temple of God and on the Holy Land, and the annihilation of the nations by God; the Last Judgment, with the ensuing conversion of the heathen to God; the establishment of God's eternal kingdom over all men and the reign of universal peace; but, strange to say, throughout the description there is no mention of the Messiah. In fact, in verses 781 et seq. the Israelites are spoken of as the prophets of God, the judges of mankind, and the just kings who will put an end to the sway of the sword upon earth.

In the Psalms of Solomon.

"The Vision of the Seventy Shepherds" and Sibyllines, iii. 652 et seq. say nothing whatever about the lineage of the earthly Messiah, but in the Psalms of Solomon (xvii.), which were called forth by the conquest of Jerusalem by Pompey (63 B.C.), he is designated as the "son of David," who will appear at a time known only to God. These Psalms (l.c.) contain a more detailed description of his personality and of his reign than any other writing of that period. The Messiah will first crush the unjust rulers and rid Jerusalem of, and destroy, the impious heathen. Then he will gather the scattered ones of Israel, distribute them through the land according to their tribes, and found his own kingdom of peace and justice. No wicked person will be tolerated in his kindgom nor will foreigners be allowed to dwell there. He will subject the heathen nations to his rule, glorify the Lord before the whole world, and make Jerusalem pure and holy as of old, so that the nations will come from the ends of the earth to witness God's glory. The description which follows of his righteous reign shows the influence of Isa. xi. 1 et seq. Free from sin, strong in the divine fear, and filled with the spirit of God, of valor, and of justice, he will tend the flock of the Lord faithfully, hold the higher officers in check, and make sinners cease by the power of his word, so that injustice and tyranny will not be practised in the land. He will not rely upon horses and warriors, nor heap up gold and silver to wage war, nor keep armies. In God alone will he place his trust, and his strength will be in Him.

In the Apocalypse of Baruch (70-100 C.E.) the earthly Messiah will appear at the close of the fourth (i.e., the Roman) world-empire and destroy it. The last ruler of the empire will, after his hosts have been destroyed, be brought in chains before the Messiah on Mount Zion, and there, after the impiousness of his rule has been pointed out to him, he will be put to death by the Messiah's own hand. Of the other nations, those hostile to Israel will be put to the sword and the remainder subjected to the rule of the Messiah, who will establish himself on the throne of his kingdom, inaugurate the reign of morality and bliss, and hold dominion until the end of time, that is, until the consummation of the present world (xxix. 3, xxxix. 5-xl. 3, lxxii.-lxxiii. 4. Ch. xxx. 1 is to be taken, with Volz ["Jüdische Eschatologie," pp. 37, 203], as Christian interpolation).

In the Testaments of the Patriarchs.

The Testament of Levi (ch. viii. and xviii.) shows a unique conception of the Messiah. He is not, as in the Testament of Judah (see below) and according to the popular belief, a descendant of David, but a priestly king of the tribe of Levi. His character and activity are altogether spiritual. The pouring out of the spirit and knowledge of the Lord over all mankind and the cessation of sin and evil will be the fruit of his ideal priesthood, which will last for all eternity. He himself will open the doors of paradise, cast aside the sword threatening Adam, and give the saints to eat of the tree of life. He will chain up Belial and will give his children power to trample on the evil spirits. The picture of the Messiah in the Testament of Judah (ch. xxiv.), although far more brief, resembles, in its spiritual character and in its universalistic tendency, that in the Testament of Levi. The sole mission of the Messiah will be the regeneration of mankind, and his kingdom will be one of justice and salvation for the whole world. If, as Bousset sought to prove ("Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft," i. 193 et seq.), the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs date mainly from the time of the Maccabees, then the Messiahconception of the Testament of Levi is easily accounted for; the author expects that the future Savior will be a prince of the reigning priestly house of the Maccabees.

The Heavenly Messiah.

The oldest apocalypse in which the conception of a preexistent heavenly Messiah is met with is the Messiological section of the Book of Enoch (xxxvii.-lxxi.) of the first century B.C. The Messiah is called "the Son of Man," and is described as an angelic being, his countenance resembling a man's, and as occupying a seat in heaven beside the Ancient of Days (xlvi. 1), or, as it is expressed in ch. xxxix. 7, "under the wings of the Lord of spirits." In ch. xlviii. 3, 6, xlix. 2b it is stated that "His name was called before the Lord of spirits before the sun and the signs of the zodiac were created, and before the stars of heaven weremade"; that "He was chosen and hidden with God before the world was created, and will remain in His presence forevermore" (comp. also lxii. 6); and that "His glory will last from eternity unto eternity and his might from generation unto generation" (that "his name" in xlviii. 3 means really "son of man" is evident from verse 6; comp. the similar use of "Shem Yhwh" for "Yhwh" in Isa. xxx. 27). He is represented as the embodiment of justice and wisdom and as the medium of all God's revelations to men (xlvi. 3; xlix. 1, 2a, 3). At the end of time the Lord will reveal him to the world and will place him on the throne of His glory in order that he may judge all creatures in accordance with the end to which God had chosen him from the beginning. When he rises for the judgment all the world will fall down before him, and adore and extol him, and give praise to the Lord of spirits. The angels in heaven also, and the elect in the Garden of Life, will join in his praise and will glorify the Lord. "He will judge all hidden things, and no one will be able to make vain excuses to him"; he will judge also Azazel, with all his associates and all his hosts. The wicked ones of the earth, especially all kings and potentates, he will give over to damnation, but for the just and chosen ones he will prepare eternal bliss, and he will dwell in their midst for all eternity (xlv. 3, 4; xlvi. 4-6; xlviii. 4-10; xlix. 4; li. 3; lv. 4; lxi. 7-lxii. 14).

It is worthy of special note that in the appendix to the Messiological section of Enoch, the latter himself is the Son of Man = Messiah (lxxi. 14), and, as in the Slavonic Book of Enoch and the Hebrew Book of Enoch (see Jew. Encyc. i. 676, s.v. Apocalyptic Literature), as well as throughout rabbinical literature, Enoch is identical with Meṭaṭron = Μετάθρονος or Μετατύρανος (i.e., the highest, ministering spirit, who stands next to God and represents His rulership over the universe), so there is an important connecting-link between the conception of the Son of Man = Messiah, and the Logos, which appears repeatedly in Philo in place of the earthly future king (comp., e.g., his interpretation of "ẓemaḥ," Zech. vi. 12, in "De Confess." § 14; see Memra). The Fourth Book of Ezra (about 100 C.E.) presents both the pre-existent and the earthly Messiah. The latter is seen in ch. vii. 28, xi. 37-46, xii. 31-34, where the Messiah is represented as the Lion "who will spring from the seed of David," will destroy the fourth (i.e., the Roman) world-monarchy, will rule 400 years till the end of the Messianic interim, and then will die, together with all men. The former appears in the vision of the man rising from the sea (ch. xiii.). Here, as in the Messiological section, the Messiah is described as "one resembling a man" and is called "ille homo" or "ipse homo" (verses 3, 12). The statement is made also (under the influence of Dan. vii. 13) that he "flew with the clouds of heaven." Other points of contact with the Messiological Book are: the statement that "he is the one whom the Most High has reserved for many ages to deliver creation" (verse 26); the reference to his being hidden with God (verse 52)—"Even as no one can fathom nor learn what is in the depths of the sea, so none of the inhabitants of earth can see My son nor his escort [i.e., the host of angels who will accompany him when he appears upon earth], unless it be at the appointed hour"; and, finally, the obvious reference to his preexistence in heaven, where the promise is given to Ezra, "Thou wilt be taken from among men [to heaven] and wilt dwell with My son and with thy comrades until the end of time" (xiv. 9).

In Rabbinic Literature.

Whether the Messiah in Sibyllines v. 415-430, where he is called "a blessed man coming from heaven," is the preexistent or the earthly Messiah can not be determined. In the Assumptio Mosis, however (c. 4 B.C.), it may be concluded, on the ground of the identification of the Son of Man = Messiah with Enoch = Meṭaṭron in Enoch lxxi. 14, that it is the preexistent Messiah who is referred to (x. 2), for it is stated that, at the end of the last tribulation, when God's dominion will be established over all creation, "the hands of the angel who stands in the highest place will be filled, and he will immediately avenge them [Israel] on their enemies." As the author of the Fourth Book of Ezra (xiii.), as well as the author of the Messiological Book, evidently had Dan. vii. 13 in mind when he described the preexistent Messiah, it may be mentioned here that, while the Messianic interpretation of this passage prevails in the rabbinic literature (the oldest example is the Messianic tradition in Sanh. 98a, for which Joshua b. Levi is mentioned as authority), the Greek text of Dan. vii. 13 presents not only the Messianic interpretation of "Bar Nash," but unmistakably also, in καὶ ὡς παλαιὸς ἡμερῶν παρῆυ added after ὡς υἱὸς ἀνϑρώπου ἥρχετο, the conception of the preexistent Messiah. Moreover, contrary to the view held by many that all the passages concerning the Son of Man = Messiah in the Book of Enoch and IV Ezra are of Christian origin, it may be pointed out that the phrase "Bar Nash" (= "Son of Man") must have been a common name for an angel of the highest order among the Palestinian Jews of the first Christian centuries. Yer. Yoma v. relates that, when reference was made in the bet ha-midrash to Simon the Just's having, every year of the forty during which he was high priest, been accompanied into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement by an "aged one," veiled and garbed in linen (i.e., by a heavenly being; comp. the "labush ha-badim" in Ezek. ix. 1, 3 et al.), R. Abbahu objected: "Does not the prohibition, 'No man shall be present in the Tabernacle when the high priest enters the sanctuary,' extend to those of whom it is said, 'the appearance of their countenance was that of a man's countenance'?" (Lev. xvi. 17; Ezek. i. 10). Whereupon the rejoinder was made, "Who says that that being was Bar Nash? It was the All Holy Himself." It may be noted in passing that this haggadah is of importance for the Greek text of Dan. vii. 13 as well as for the identification of the Son of Man = Messiah with Enoch = Meṭaṭron.

In the rabbinical apocalyptic literature the conception of an earthly Messiah is the prevailing one, and from the end of the first century of the common era it is also the one officially accepted by Judaism. As proof of this may be given: (1) "The Prayer for the Coming of the Messiah," mentioned above, inwhich the Messiah is called "descendant of David." (2) The information given in the second century by Justin ("Dialogus cum Tryphone," ch. xlix.) and by the author of "Philosophumena" (ix. 30). Both writers state expressly that, contrary to the belief of the Christians, the Jews emphasize the human origin of the Messiah, and the author of "Philosophumena" adds that they expect him to be descended from David. (3) The liturgy of later times, which, like the Daily Prayer, calls him the descendant of David throughout. His mission is, in all essential respects, the same as in the apocalypses of the older period: he is to free Israel from the power of the heathen world, kill its ruler and destroy his hosts, and set up his own kingdom of peace (comp. the descriptions of him in Jew. Encyc. i. 675, s.v. Apocalyptic Literature, Neo-Hebraic).

Heavenly Preexistence.

The conception of the preexistent Messiah is met with in Pesiḳ. R. xxxiii., xxxvi. (pp. 152b, 162, ed. Friedmann; comp. Yalḳ. i. 339). In accordance with the Messiological section of Enoch the former of these two passages says: "At the beginning of the creation of the world was born the King Messiah, who mounted into God's thoughts before the world was made"; and in the latter passage it is related that God contemplated the Messiah and his works before the creation of the world and concealed him under His throne; that Satan, having asked God who the Light was under His throne, was told it was the one who would bring him to shame in the future, and, being then allowed, at his request, to see the Messiah, he trembled and sank to the ground, crying out, "Truly this is the Messiah who will deliver me and all heathen kings over to hell." God calls the Messiah "Ephraim, my righteous Messiah."

The preexistent Messiah is presented also in the Haggadah (Pes. 54a; Ned. 39a; Yalḳ. i. 20; et al.), where the name of the Messiah is included among the seven things created before the world was made, and where he is called "Yinnon," reference being made to Ps. lxxii. 17 (which passage probably was in the mind of the author of the Messiological section of Enoch when writing xlviii. 3). That, contrary to the view of Weber ("Jüdische Theologie," 2d ed., p. 355) and others, it is actual preexistence which is meant here, and not predestination, is evident from the additional remark—"According to another view, only the Torah and the Throne of Glory were [actually] created; as to the other [five] things the intention was formed to create them" (Yalḳ., l.c.; in regard to "the name of the Messiah" compare the comment above to Enoch, xlviii. 3). Finally, the preexistence of the Messiah in paradise is minutely described in "The Revelation of R. Joshua b. Levi" (see Jew. Encyc. i. 680), in Midrash Konen (Jellinek, "B. H." ii. 29), and in "Seder Gan Eden" (ib. iii. 132 et seq., 195). In the first two, regardless of the apparent anomaly, the preexistent Messiah is called "Messiah ben David."

Earthly Preexistence.

The conception met with in the rabbinical literature of an earthly preexistence of the Messiah must be distinguished from that of his heavenly preexistence. It occurs in various forms, representing, probably, different stages of development. First, he is expected to lead a hidden life and then to step forth suddenly. (On this conception of the sudden, unexpected appearance of the Messiah comp. Matt. xxiv. 27, 43-44, where it is said that the Messiah will come like a thief in the night or like a flash of lightning.) This is the conception of him in Ex. R. i. and in Tan., Shemot, both of which say that as Moses, the first deliverer, was reared at the court of Pharaoh, so the future deliverer will grow up in the Roman capital; in agreement with this, in the Agadat ha-Mashiaḥ (Jellinek, l.c. iii. 142) it is said that the Messiah will suddenly be revealed to Israel in Rome. Then, again, the Messiah is represented as born, but not yet revealed. This conception appears as early as the second century in Justin Martyr's "Dialogus cum Tryphone" (ch. viii.), and in accordance with it is the passage Sanh. 98b, where R. Joshua ben Levi is quoted as saying that the Messiah is already born and is living in concealment at the gates of Rome. In Targ. Yer. to Micah iv. 8 the Messiah is on the earth, but because of the sins of the people he is still in hiding. Finally, the Messiah is thought of as born at a certain time in the past. This is the case in Yer. Ber. ii., which states that the Messiah was born at Bethlehem on the day the Temple was destroyed, and in the Apocalypse of Zerubbabel (see Jew. Encyc. i. 682), which declares he was born in the days of King David and is dwelling in Rome.

The notion, traceable to Ezek. xxxiv. 23 et al., that David himself is the Messiah, is another variation of the conception of earthly preexistence. It occurs in the apocalyptic fragment of the "Siddur" of R. Amram (see Jew. Encyc. i. 678, s.v. Apocalyptic Literature, 2) and in Yer. Ber. ii. The latter states that whether the King Messiah belongs to the living or to the dead, his name is David.

Messiah ben Joseph.

Finally, there must be mentioned a Messianic figure peculiar to the rabbinical apocalyptic literature—that of Messiah ben Joseph. The earliest mention of him is in Suk. 52a, b, where three statements occur in regard to him, for the first of which R. Dosa (c. 250) is given as authority. In the last of these statements only his name is mentioned, but the first two speak of the fate which he is to meet, namely, to fall in battle (as if alluding to a well-known tradition). Details about him are not found until much later, but he has an established place in the apocalypses of later centuries and in the midrash literature—in Saadia's description of the future ("Emunot we-De'ot," ch. viii.) and in that of Hai Gaon ("Ṭa'am Zeḳenim," p. 59). According to these, Messiah b. Joseph will appear prior to the coming of Messiah b. David; he will gather the children of Israel around him, march to Jerusalem, and there, after overcoming the hostile powers, reestablish the Temple-worship and set up his own dominion. Thereupon Armilus, according to one group of sources, or Gog and Magog, according to the other, will appear with their hosts before Jerusalem, wage war against Messiah b. Joseph, and slay him. His corpse, according to one group, will lie unburied in the streets of Jerusalem; according to theother, it will be hidden by the angels with the bodies of the Patriarchs, until Messiah b. David comes and resurrects him (comp. Jew. Encyc. i. 682, 684 [§§ 8 and 13]; comp. also Midr. Wayosha' and Agadat ha-Mashiaḥ in Jellinek, "B. H." i. 55 et seq., iii. 141 et seq.).

When and how this Messiah-conception originated is a question that has not yet been answered satisfactorily. It is not possible to consider Messiah b. Joseph the Messiah of the Ten Tribes. He is nowhere represented as such; though twice it is mentioned that a part of the Ten Tribes will be found among those who will gather about his standard. There is a possibility, however, as has been repeatedly maintained, that there is some connection between the Alexander saga and the Messiah b. Joseph tradition, for, in the Midrash, on the strength of Deut. xxxiii. 17, a pair of horns, with which he will "strike in all directions," is the emblem of Messiah b. Joseph (comp. Pirḳe R. El. xix.; Gen. R. lxxv.; Num. R. xiv.; et al.), just as in the apocalyptic Alexander tradition in the Koran (referred to above) the latter is called "The Double-Horned" ("Dhu al-Ḳarnain"). See also Eschatology; Judaism.

Holiness of Israel

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Israel, Holiness of:HOLINESS OF: By : Joseph Jacobs Judah David Eisenstein

ARTICLE HEADINGS:
Duration of Holiness.
Rewards of Residence.
Reaction.
Burial in Palestine.

The sacredness of Palestine in the esteem of the Jews is partly accounted for by the fact that it was the cradle and sepulcher of their Patriarchs and their "Promised Land." Moreover, many of the Mosaic laws could apply to Palestine only, and the holiness of these laws was largely reflected on the Holy Land. Palestine was distinguished as "a land which the Lord thy God cared for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it" (Deut. xi. 12). God calls it "my land" (Joel iii. 2). The term "holy land" is mentioned only once in the Bible (Zech. ii. 12). In rabbinical literature Palestine is generally known as "Ereẓ Yisrael" (Land of Israel). "Ereẓ ha-Ḳedoshah" (The Holy Land) is used more as a poetical expression. The Mishnah says, "Palestine is the holiest of all countries" (Kelim i. 6).

Duration of Holiness.

From a legal standpoint, however, this holiness ceased with the destruction of the Temple and the dispersion of the Jewish people. Ezra resanctified Palestine on his return from Babylon; but whether or not the sanctification of Ezra continued after the Second Temple was destroyed is a moot question in the Talmud ('Eduy. viii. 6; Mak. 19a; Hul. 7a; 'Ar. 32a; Niddah 46b), and upon its solution, in exilic times, rested the validity of many obligations pertaining to tithes, the Sabbatical year (see Shemiṭṭah), etc. From a sentimental standpoint, however, the sacredness of Palestine never varied. "The Holy Temple built or destroyed, the Shekinah never moved from that place, as God promised at the dedication of the Temple: 'Mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually'" (I Kings ix. 3).

The angels that guarded Jacob in Palestine were of a higher order than those elsewhere. The angels, it is said, used to change guard at Mahanaim (Gen. R. lxviii. 18). To be driven out of Palestine means, "Go, serve other gods" (I Sam. xxvi. 19; Ket. 110b). R. Simeon b. YoHai said, "Elimelech, Mahlon, and Chilion were the foremost men and leaders in Israel, and the only sin for which they were punished was their sin in leaving Palestine in time of famine" (B. B. 91a).

One must not speak ill of Palestine. The wicked King of Assur merited the title "the great and noble Asnapper" (Ezra iv. 10) because he refrained from abusing the Holy Land, and held it in as much esteem as Babylon, when he said, "I [will] come and take you away to a land like your own land" (II Kings xviii. 32; Sanh. 94a).

Rewards of Residence.

Veneration and love for Palestine were maintained by the Rabbis in many ways. R. Johanan declared that one who walks a distance of 4 cubits in Palestine may be confident of a share in the future world (Ket. 111a). "The merit of living in Palestine equals the merit of observing all the commandments." It is told of R. Eleazar b. Shammua' and R. Johanan ha-Sandalar, who had decided to leave Palestine to study under R. Judah b. Beterah, that they had gone only as far as Sidon when the thought of the sanctity of Palestine overcame their resolution, and they shed tears, rent their garments, and turned back (Sifre, Deut. 80). R. Hiyya b. Gammada showed his devotion by rolling himself in the dust of Palestine, in conformity with the words of the Psalmist: "For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the dust thereof" (Ps. cii. 14). R. Jose ben Hanin kissed the stones of Acre, saying, "Up to this point is the land of Israel." R. Ze'era went through the waters of the Jordan without removing his garments (Yer. Shebu. iv. 9). As a mark of reverence this is done to-day also by devout Christian travelers in Palestine, who immerse themselves in the Jordan dressed in shrouds.

Reaction.

This ardent love for Palestine had certain disadvantages, inasmuch as it tended to bar emigration and limit the area of Jewish learning instead of diffusing it in other countries. Opposed to this tendency was the fact that the Jewish persecutions in Palestine for centuries after the destruction of the Temple made it so difficult for the Rabbis to maintain their position that many were compelled to remove to Babylon, which offered them better protection (comp. Pes. 87a). Under these circumstances the Babylonian rabbis found it necessary to counteract the ardor and high regard for Palestine. Judah thought "living in Babylon is like living in Palestine." He even declared it to be a transgression to return to Palestine, and quoted Jer. xxvii. 22 (Ket. 110b).

The revival of the feeling of reverence for Palestine is principally due to NaHmanides and R. Jehiel of Paris, who left Europe to settle there in the thirteenth century. They were followed in the sixteenth century by the rabbis Alshech, Caro, and Luria, and, still later, by the disciples of Elijah of Wilna and Ba'al Shem-Ṭob. Zionism is a modern development of the ancient regard for Palestine.

Jewish liturgical literature comprises many poems on the holiness of Palestine. Among these are: "Ẓiyyon ha-Lo Tish'ali," by Judah ha-Levi (12th cent.); "Ereẓ, ha-Ḳedoshah Yeḳarah Hamudah," by Abraham Selamah (1540); "Ereẓ Asher Adonai Eloheka Doresh," by Shabbethai Cohen (1622-63); "Ereẓ Yisrael Hayu Bah 'Eser Ḳedushshot," by Abraham Abele (1655-92; Zunz, "S. P." passim). A collection of Palestinian national songs, ancient and modern, under the title "Kinnor Ẓiyyon," was published in Warsaw in 1900.

Burial in Palestine.

The holiness of Palestine attracted Jewish settlers, not only to live, but to die there. R. Anan says, "To be buried in Palestine is like being buried under the altar" (Ket. 111a). All sins are considered absolved for the Jew who is buried in Palestine, according to the saying, "His land will absolve His people"(Deut. xxxii. 43, Hebr.). Even Jeroboam, the most wicked king of Israel, is to be freed from Gehinnom and resurrected when the Messiah comes, solely because of his having been buried in Palestine (Pesiḳ. R. 81a; Yer. Ket. xii. 3). Palestine is named "Ereẓ. Hayyim" (the land of the living; Ezek. xxvi. 20). R. Eleazar based on this his assertion that the dead will not be resurrected outside of Palestine, but that a subterranean passage will lead the righteous who die elsewhere into Palestine, where they will arise (Ket. ib.). The cabalists claim that the resurrection in the Holy Land is to precede the resurrection elsewhere by forty years. It is for this reason that some earth or sand from the Holy Land, generally from Mount Olivet, in Jerusalem, is spread over the dead when buried outside Palestine; this is called "terra santa" by Sephardim. The author of Midrash Talpiyyot (s.v. "Ereẓ Yisrael") says: "I heard that Palestinian dust put on the eyes, navel, and between the legs of the dead outside the Holy Land is equivalent to burying the body in Palestine." The custom of importing dust from Palestine for this purpose is in vogue among the Orthodox Jews all over the world, including America.

It is recorded of a number of great men who died outside Palestine that, either by their expressed will or to do them honor, they were disinterred and reburied in Palestine; for example, R. Huna (M. Ḳ. 25a) and 'Ula (Ket. ib.). A special provision permits disinterment for the purpose of reinterring in the Holy Land (ShulHan 'Aruk, Yoreh De'ah, 363, 1). The Talmud, however, declares that "there is a difference between being absorbed in the soil of Palestine when alive and after death." The Zohar is even more severe on this point. "It is a great privilege," said R. Judah, "for one to take up his abode in the Holy Land" ("Ar'a Ḳaddisha"), as he draws the dew of heaven dropping on the earth. One who is bound to the Holy Land when alive is destined to be bound to the higher Holy Land after death; but of one who dies elsewhere and has his body brought back to Palestine, the Scriptures say, "Ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination" (Jer. ii. 7): "Inasmuch as his soul is left in a strange place while his body is in a holy place, thus making the holy common and the common holy" (Zohar, AHare Mot, p. 72b, ed. Wilna, 1882). Since the sixteenth century the holiness of Palestine, especially for burial, has been almost wholly transferred to four cities—Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias, and Safed. See also Haluḳḳah; Pilgrimage; Zionism.

Passages Repeated

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Passages Repeated.

Yerushalmi, when regarded as a work of literature, is noteworthy for a textual peculiarity which is characteristic of it, though found also in Babli, namely, the large number of literal repetitions. Entire passages, sometimes whole columns, of the Talmud are found in two, occasionally in three, separate treatises, in which they differ from each other by mere variants, most of them due to corruptions of the text. These repetitions throw some light on the redaction of the Talmudic text, since they prove that before the editing of the treatises was undertaken a uniform mass of material was already at hand in a definitely revised form; they likewise show that in the compilation of the Talmud one portion was explained by another, as was natural in view of the character of the contents. The opportunity was gladly seized, moreover, to repeat didactic material in passages where it did not strictly belong. These repetitions are obviously of great value in the textual criticism of the Talmud. Since sufficient attention has never yet been paid to this phenomenon of Yerushalmi, a list is here given of those passages of the first order, Zera'im, which are repeated in other orders. It must be noted, however, that this list includes neither citations based on passages of another treatise nor parallel passages consisting of a single sentence.

(a)

Passages from the order i. repeated in the order ii.:

Ber. 3b, lines 10-55 = Shab. 3a, 69-3b, 20.
Ber. 4a, 30-56 = SheK. 47a, 13-59 = M. K. 83c, 40-83d, 8.
Ber. 5a, 33-62 = M. K. 82b, 14-47.
Ber. 5d, 14-20 = Shab. 3a, 55-61.
Ber. 5d, 65-6a, 9 = M. K. 83a, 5-27.
Ber. 6c, 4-17 = Yoma 44d, 58-68.
Ber. 6d, 60-67 = Meg. 73d, 15-22.
Ber. 7b, 70-7d, 25 = Ta'an. 67c, 12-67d, 47.
Ber. 7d, 75-8a, 59 = Ta'an. 65c, 2-69.
Ber. 8c, 60-69 = R. H. 59d, 16-25.
Ber. 9a, 70-9b, 47 = Ta'an. 63c, 66-63d, 44.
Ber. 9c, 20-31 = Meg. 75c, 8-19.
Ber. 9c, 49-54 = Meg. 75b, 31-36.
Ber. 10a, 32-43 = Pes. 29c, 16-27.
Ber. 11c, 14-21 = Pes. 37c, 54-71.
Ber. 12c, 16-25 = 'Er. 22b, 29-37.
Ber. 12c, 44-62 = Suk. 24a, 6-21 = Meg. 72a, 15-31.
Ber. 13d, 72-14a, 30 = Ta'an. 64a, 75-64b, 35.
Pe'ah 15a, 67-15b, 21 = hag. 76b, 24-53.
Pe'ah 17a, 39-72 = hag. 76b, 13-47.
Pe'ah 18d, 16-33 = SheK. 46a, 48-67.
Pe'ah 18d, 66-19a, 5 = SheK. 48c, 75-48d, 13.
Pe'ah 21a, 25-29 = SheK. 48d, 55-58.
Dem. 22a, 31-40 = SheK. 48d, 40-49.
Kil. 29b, 27-61 = 'Er. 19c, 15-49 = Suk. 52a, 40-73.
Kil. 29b, 62-76 = Suk. 52a, 73-52b, 11.
Sheb. 34c, 27-49 = M. K. 80b, 26-52.
Sheb. 38a, 50-60 = Shab. 3c, 55-65.
Ter. 44a, 32-38 = Shab. 44d, 4-10.
Ter. 45d, 42-51 = Shab. 3d, 2-15 (comp. 'Ab. Zarah 41d, 13-28).
Ter. 46a, 41-46b, 35 = Pes. 28a, 34-28b, 37.
Ma'as. 49a, 22-28 = Suk. 53d, 43-53.
Ma'as. 49b, 14-32 = Shab. 6b, 17-36.
Ma'as. 49b, 39-48 = Bezah 62b, 72-62c, 6.
Ma'as. Sh. 53b, 6-44 = Yoma 45c, 2-36 (comp. Shebu. 32b. 56-34c, 3).
Ma'as. Sh. 54b, 48-58 = SheK. 51b, 15-25.
Ma'as. Sh. 55a, 23-55 = 'Er. 24c, 33-66.
Ma'as. Sh. 55d, 62-67 = M. K. 80b, 72-80c, 10.
hal. 57c, 16-20 = R. H. 57b, 60-63.

(b)

Passages from the order i. repeated in the order iii.:

Ber. 6a, 35-6b, 17 = Naz. 56a, 12-68.
Ber. 6b, 51-56 = Kid. 61c, 11-17.
Ber. 9d, 3-19 = Git. 47b, 49-63.
Ber. 11b, 42-68 = Naz. 54b, 2-27.
Ber. 14b, 45-70 = Sotah 20c, 40-64.
Pe'ah 15b, 41-47 = Ket. 32c, 10-16.
Pe'ah 15c, 7-16 = Kid. 61a, 75-61c, 10.
Dem. 25b, 60-45c, 7 = Kid. 63a, 75-63b, 21.
Kil. 32a, 64-32d, 7 = Ket. 34d, 74-35b, 56.
Sheb. 36b, 25-68 = Kid. 61c, 56-61d, 17.
Ter. 40c, 42-40d, 6 = Yeb. 13c, 70-13d, 32.
Ter. 42b, 44-53 = Naz. 53d, 16-27.
Ter. 44c, 9-44d, 44 = Ket. 27b, 5-27c, 39.
Ma'as. Sh. 55a, 69-55b, 13 = Git. 47d, 55-70.
'Orlah 61b, 8-33 = Naz. 55c, 32-63.
Bik. 64a. 32-44 = Yeb. 9b, 71-9c, 8.

(c)

Passages from the order i. repeated in the order iv.:
Ber. 3a, 52-69 = Sanh. 30a, 65-30b, 8 = 'Ab. Zarah 41c, 46-63.
Ber. 6b, 20-41 = Sanh. 20a, 43-60.
Pe'ah 16b, 22-25, 43-60 = Sanh. 27c, 38-60.
Sheb. 35b, 26-40 = 'Ab. Zarah 44b, 27-41.
Sheb. 39b, 14-38 = Mak. 31a, 33-50.
Ter. 45c, 24-45d, 11 = 'Ab. Zarah 41a, 18-41b, 3.
Ter. 47c, 66-47d, 4 = 'Ab. Zarah 41c, 13-23.
Ma'as. Sh. 54d, 71-55a, 8 = Sanh. 19a, 63-76.
Ma'as. Sh. 56c, 9-18 = Sanh. 18d, 13-22.
'Orlah 62b, 49-62c, 10 = 'Ab. Zarah 45a, 32-45b, 10.

The following parallel passages from the second and fourth orders may also be mentioned on account of their length: Shab. 9c, 62-9d, 59 = Sanh. 24c, 19-24d, 14; Shab. 14d, 10-15a, 1 = 'Ab. Zarah 40d, 12-41a, 4.

Despite these parallel passages in the four orders of Yerushalmi, which might be regarded as a proof of the uniform redaction of the entire work, there is proof to the contrary, which shows that the first two orders differ in origin from the third and fourth. While the first and second contain a large number of baraitot with the introductory formula "Samuel transmits []," there is not a single baraita by Samuel in the third and fourth orders. These latter two include, on the other hand, many controversies between Mani and Abin, two amoraim of the second half of the fourth century, while Zera'im and Mo'ed contain very few (see Bacher, "Ag. Pal. Amor." iii. 398). The redaction of Yerushalmi is discussed in further detail below.

Talmud

Metal-Work Cases for Scrolls of the Law

2001-12-12T22:46:00.000-08:00

Metal-Work Cases for Scrolls of the Law,

with Floral Designs and Hebrew Inscriptions,

Dated 1732.(Formerly in a synagogue at Bokhara,

now in the possession of M. N. Adler, London.)

Aharon's Jewish Books and Judaica

600 South Holly Street Suite 103

Denver, Colorado 80246

303-322-7345

Case Containing Samaritan Scroll of the Law

2001-12-12T11:21:00.000-08:00

Case Containing Samaritan Scroll of the Law.

Source: (From a photograph by the Palestine Exploration Fund.)

Aharon's Jewish Books and Judaica

600 South Holly Street Suite 103
Denver, Colorado 80246
303-322-7345

Binder for Scroll of the Law

2001-12-12T10:56:00.000-08:00

Caption: Binder for Scroll of the Law.

Source: (From Kirchner, "Judisches Ceremonial," 1726.)

Aharon's Jewish Books and Judaica
600 South Holly Street Suite 103
Denver, Colorado 80246
303-322-7345

Scroll of the Law from Tafilet, Morocco.

2001-12-12T10:50:00.000-08:00

Caption: Scroll of the Law from Tafilet, Morocco.

Source: (From the Sulzberger collection in the

Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York.)

Aharon's Jewish Books and Judaica
600 South Holly Street Suite 103
Denver, Colorado 80246
303-322-7345

Breastplate for Scroll of the Law

2001-12-12T10:39:00.000-08:00

Caption: Breastplate for Scroll of the Law.

Source: (In the synagogue at Schönhausen, Germany.)

Aharon's Jewish Books and Judaica

600 South Holly Street Suite 103

Denver, Colorado 80246

303-322-7345

Scroll of the Law from China

2001-12-12T10:16:00.000-08:00

Scroll of the Law from China.

(From the Sulzberger collection in the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York.)

Aharon's Jewish Books and Judaica

600 South Holly Street Suite 103

Denver, Colorado 80246

303-322-7345

Scroll of the Law, with Crown, Breastplate, and Pointer.

2001-12-12T09:09:00.000-08:00

Scroll of the Law, with Crown,

Breastplate, and Pointer.

Aharon's Jewish Books and Judaica

600 South Holly Street Suite 103

Denver, Colorado 80246

303-322-7345

Kosher Ink

2001-12-12T08:29:00.000-08:00

Ink By : Emil G. Hirsch Wilhelm Nowack

The only passage in the Torah in which ink is mentioned is Jer. xxxvi. 18. It would evidently, however, be a mistake to conclude that it was unknown in earlier times, for in this passage "deyo" is spoken of as something well known. Perhaps the Hebrew word "katab" presupposes the existence of ink; and ink was certainly known to the ancient Egyptians. It has not been determined how ink was prepared by the ancient Jews; at any rate the Talmudic "deyo" designates no fluid ink, but rather a cake of pigment which had to be made liquid before use. This ink was made chiefly from soot. Oil or balsam-gum was used to change the soot into a tough, pitchy substance (Shab. 23a); and that made with olive-oil was preferred, as it gave the finest pigment.

Gallnuts, first mentioned by Marcianus Capella, are unknown to the Mishnah, but are mentioned in the Gemara. A mineral ink was "kalkantus" (χαλ κανθός), which was also used occasionally in Palestineunmixed. As the ancient world had mixed copper sulphate with the ink of gallnuts, R. Meïr (after 100 C. E.), a descendant of Greek proselytes, did the same with deyo, the national ink of the Jews. His object was evidently to make the writing more permanent, since ink with a mineral mixture has the advantage of penetrating the material written upon, although it also gradually destroys it. The writing was probably done with an "'et," which designates not only a metal style, but also a reed pen which corresponds to the Arabic "kalam" of to-day. As is still common in the Orient, the scribe used to carry the 'et or stylus together with the "keset hasofer," or inkhorn, in his girdle (Ezek. ix. 2-11). He carried also a particular kind of penknife ("ta'ar hasofer") wherewith to sharpen his reed pen and to cut the writing-material (Jer. xxxvi. 23).

Scroll of the Law

Aharon's Jewish Books and Judaica
600 South Holly Street Suite 103
Denver, Colorado 80246
303-322-7345

Metal Case for Scroll of the Law

2001-12-12T07:57:00.001-08:00

Metal Case for Scroll of the Law"

(In the Musée de, Cluny, Paris.)

Aharon's Jewish Books and Judaica

600 South Holly Street Suite 103

Denver, Colorado 80246

303-322-7345

Scroll of the Law

2001-12-12T07:57:00.000-08:00

Metal Case for Scroll of the Law.

(In the Musée de, Cluny, Paris.)

Aharon's Jewish Books and Judaica

600 South Holly Street Suite 103

Denver, Colorado 80246

303-322-7345

The Talmud

2001-12-06T21:08:00.000-08:00

The Talmud (Hebrew: תַּלְמוּד talmūd "instruction, learning", from a root lmd "teach, study") is a central text of mainstream Judaism, in the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history.

The Talmud has two components: the Mishnah (c. 200 CE), the first written compendium of Judaism's Oral Law; and the Gemara (c. 500 CE), a discussion of the Mishnah and related Tannaitic writings that often ventures onto other subjects and expounds broadly on the Tanakh.

The terms Talmud and Gemara are often used interchangeably. The Gemara is the basis for all codes of rabbinic law and is much quoted in other rabbinic literature. The whole Talmud is also traditionally referred to as Shas (ש"ס), a Hebrew abbreviation of shisha sedarim, the "six orders" of the Mishnah.

Shofars - Use in modern times

2001-12-04T19:12:00.000-08:00

Use in modern times

In modern times, the shofar is used only at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It is blown in synagogues to mark the end of the fast at Yom Kippur, and blown at four particular places at Rosh Hashanah. Because of its inherent ties to the Days of Repentance and the inspiration that comes along with hearing its piercing clasts, the shofar is also blown after morning services for the entire month of Elul (excluding Shabbos), which is the last month of the year. It is not blown on the last day of month, however, to mark the difference between the voluntary blasts of the month and the mandatory blasts of the holiday. The exact modes of sounding can vary from location to location.

The shofar is now almost never used outside these times, though has been seen in western classical music on a limited number of occasions. The best known example is to be found in Edward Elgar's oratorio The Apostles, although an instrument such as the flugelhorn usually plays the part instead of an actual shofar.

Israeli Oriental metal band Salem used Shofar in their metal adaptation for "Al Taster" psalm.

A shofar is a ram's horn

Tallit - Made in Israel

2000-12-07T10:32:00.000-08:00

On putting on the tallit and the tefillin on the arm and the forehead respectively (Ber. 60b; Yer. Ber. ix. 2, 14a; Tosef., Ber. vii. 10; and Men. 36a,

Various authorities have differed as to whether women are permitted to wear a tallit. In Orthodox Judaism, many authorities discourage women from wearing a tallit while some Modern Orthodox authorities permit it. In other branches of Judaism it is more commonly practiced.

Tallit (Modern Hebrew: טַלִּית)
tallet(h) Sephardi Hebrew: טַלֵּית),
Yiddish also called talles

< -- Back to Tallism

How long will the seder take?

2000-12-06T14:51:00.000-08:00

How long will the passover seder take?

Good question -- Plan on at least 3 hours for the seder and meal. However, that is a very fast seder.... some last to the early morning.

Since "Seder" means "order", it is not unexpected that there is an order to the night's proceedings. The night goes as follows [the Hebrew read left to right]:

Kaddesh קדש (Saying of Kiddush blessing and the first cup of Wine)
Ur'chatz ורחץ (The washing of the hands)
Karpas כרפס (Dipping of the Karpas in salt water)
Yachatz יחץ (Break middle matzoh. It becomes the Afikomen)
Maggid מגיד(Telling of the Passover story. The saying of the Four Question.)
Rochtzah רחץ(Second washing of the hands)
Motzi/ Matzah מוציא / מצה (Saying of the matzah blessing)
Maror מרור (Eating of charoset and maror)
Korech כורך (Eating of Matzah, charoset, and maror)
Shulchan Orech שולחן עורך (Dinner is served)
Tzafun צפון (Eating of the Afikomen)
Barech ברך (After dinner blessing, Wine, and in Ashkenazi families: welcoming of Elijah the Prophet)
Hallel הלל (Song singing, more wine)
Nirtzah נירצה (Conclusion)

Jewish Secular Calendar Starting after sunset Ending before sunset

Passover in 2010 will start on Tuesday, the 30th of March and will continue for 7 days until Monday, the 5th of April.
Passover in 2011 will start on Tuesday, the 19th of April and will continue for 7 days until Monday, the 25th of April.
Passover in 2012 will start on Saturday, the 7th of April and will continue for 7 days until Friday, the 13th of April.
Passover in 2013 will start on Tuesday, the 26th of March and will continue for 7 days until Monday, the 1st of April.
Passover in 2014 will start on Tuesday, the 15th of April and will continue for 7 days until Monday, the 21st of April.
Passover in 2015 will start on Saturday, the 4th of April and will continue for 7 days until Friday, the 10th of April.
Passover in 2016 will start on Saturday, the 23rd of April and will continue for 7 days until Friday, the 29th of April.
Passover in 2017 will start on Tuesday, the 11th of April and will continue for 7 days until Monday, the 17th of April.

Passover Seder

See Seder Plates