חגיגה 13 — Soncino English Talmud

¹refers to the inner chambers, the other to the outer chambers. And R. Aha b. Jacob said: There is still another Heaven above the heads of the living creatures, for it is written: And over the heads of the living creatures there was a likeness of a firmament, like the colour of the terrible ice, stretched forth over their heads above. Thus far you have permission to speak, thenceforward you have not permission to speak, for so it is written in the Book of Ben Sira: Seek not things that are too hard for thee, and search not things that are hidden from thee. The things that have been permitted thee, think thereupon; thou hast no business with the things that are secret. It is taught: R. Johanan b. Zakkai said: What answer did the Bath Kol give to that wicked one, when he said: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High? A Bath Kol went forth and said to him: O wicked man, son of a wicked man, grandson of Nimrod, the wicked, who stirred the whole world to rebellion against Me by his rule. How many are the years of man? Seventy, for it is said: The days of our years are threescore years and ten, or even by reason of strength fourscore years. But the distance from the earth to the firmament is a journey of five hundred years, and the thickness of the firmament is a journey of five hundred years, and likewise [the distance] between one firmament and the other. Above them are the holy living creatures: the feet of the living creatures are equal to all of them [together]; the ankles of the living creatures are equal to all of them; the legs of the living creatures are equal to all of them; the knees of the living creatures are equal to all of them; the thighs of the living creatures are equal to all of them; the bodies of the living creatures are equal to all of them; the necks of the living creatures are equal to all of them; the heads of the living creatures are equal to all of them; the horns of the living creatures are equal to all of them. Above them is the throne of glory; the feet of the throne of glory are equal to all of them; the throne of glory is equal to all of them. The King, the Living and Eternal God, High and Exalted, dwelleth above them. Yet thou didst say, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High! Nay , thou shalt be brought down to the nether-world, to the uttermost parts of the pit. NOR [THE WORK OF] THE CHARIOT IN THE PRESENCE OF ONE. R. Hiyya taught: But the headings of chapters may be transmitted to him. R. Zera said: The headings of chapters may be transmitted only to the head of a court and to one whose heart is anxious within him. Others say: Only if his heart is anxious within him. R. Amimi said: The mysteries of the Torah may be transmitted only to one who possesses five attributes, [namely], The captain of fifty, and the man of rank, and the counsellor, and the cunning charmer, and the skillful enchanter. R. Ammi further said: The teachings of the Torah are not to be transmitted to an idolater, for it is said: He hath not dealt so with any nation; and as for His ordinances, they have not known them. R. Johanan said to R. Eleazar: Come, I will instruct you in the ‘Work of the Chariot’. He replied: I am not old enough. When he was old enough, R. Johanan died. R. Assi [then] said to him: Come, I will instruct you in the "Work of the Chariot’. He replied: Had I been worthy, I should have been instructed by R. Johanan, your master. R. Joseph was studying the ‘Work of the Chariot’; the elders of Pumbeditha were studying the ‘Work of Creation . The latter said to the former: Let the master teach us the ‘Work of the Chariot’. He replied: Teach me the ‘Work of Creation’. After they had taught him, they said to him: Let the master instruct us in the ‘Work of the Chariot’. He replied: We have learnt concerning it: Honey and milk are under thy tongue. The things that are sweeter than honey and milk should be under thy tongue. R. Abbahu said: [It is inferred] from this verse: The lambs [Ke-basim] will be for thy clothing. The things which are the mystery [Kibshono] of the world should be under thy clothing. They [then] said to him: We have already studied therein as far as, And He said unto me: ‘Son of man’. He replied: This is the very [portion of the] ‘Work of the Chariot’. An objection was raised: How far does [the portion of] the ‘Work of the Chariot’ extend? Rabbi said: As far as the second And I saw. R. Isaac said: As far as Hashmal — As far as ‘I saw’ may be taught; thenceforward, [only] the heads of chapters may be transmitted. Some, however, say: As far as ‘I saw’, the heads of chapters may be transmitted; thenceforward, if he is a Sage able to speculate by himself, Yes; if not, No. But may one expound [the mysteries of] Hashmal? For behold there was once a child who expounded [the mysteries of] Hashmal, and a fire went forth and consumed him! — [The case of] the child is different, for he had not reached the [fitting] age. Rab Judah said: That man be remembered for blessing, namely, Hananiah b. Hezekiah: but for him, the Book of Ezekiel would have been withdrawn, for its words contradict the words of the Torah. What did he do? Three hundred garab of oil were brought up to him, and he sat in an upper chamber and expounded it. The Rabbis taught: There was once a child who was reading at his teacher's house the Book of Ezekiel, and he apprehended what Hashmal was, whereupon a fire went forth from Hashmal and consumed him. So they sought to suppress the Book of Ezekiel, but Hananiah b. Hezekiah said to them: If he was a Sage, all are Sages! What does [the word] Hashmal mean?-Rab Judah said:^ᵃ^ᵇ^ᶜ^ᵈ^ᵉ^ᶠ^ᵍ^ʰ^ⁱ^ʲ^ᵏ^ˡ^ᵐ^ⁿ^ᵒ^ᵖ^ᵠ^ʳ^ˢ^ᵗ^ᵘ^ᵛ^ʷ^ˣ^ʸ^ᶻ^ᵃᵃ^ᵃᵇ^ᵃᶜ^ᵃᵈ^ᵃᵉ^ᵃᶠ^ᵃᵍ^ᵃʰ^ᵃⁱ^ᵃʲ^ᵃᵏ^ᵃˡ^ᵃᵐ^ᵃⁿ^ᵃᵒ^ᵃᵖ^ᵃᵠ^ᵃʳ^ᵃˢ^ᵃᵗ^ᵃᵘ^ᵃᵛ^ᵃʷ^ᵃˣ^ᵃʸ^ᵃᶻ

^ᵃnote:Cf. supra p. 23, n. 5.
^ᵇnote:Ezek. I, 22.
^ᶜnote:Cf. Ecclesiasticus III, 21, 22. The author, whose full name seems to have been Jesus b. Simeon b. Eleazar b. Sira, is the only writer of the Old Testament or Apocrypha who signed his work (v. ibid. L, 27). His date falls in the first third of the second century B.C.E. He wrote in Hebrew, the Greek translation being made by his grandson, of whom it is known that he went to Egypt in 132; the greater part of the Hebrew original has been recovered from the Cairo Genizah. According to Tosef. Yad. II, 13, the writings of Ben Sira do not defile the hands, i.e., are uncanonical, and so rank the works of ‘Minim’ or heretics. Eccl. Rab. XII, 11 forbids one to have Ben Sira's book in the house. R. Akiba (J. Sanh. 28a) includes the readers of uncanonical writings such as those of Ben Sira among those who have no share in the world to come; v. further the discussion in Sanh., Sonc. ed., p. 680f and nn. a.l. on R. Akiba's prohibition. The exclusion of Ecclesiasticus from the canon and the prohibitions with which it was surrounded were probably due to its epicurean and Sadducean tendencies. Notwithstanding, the book remained popular with Jews, and is frequently quoted in early Jewish literature as well as in the Talmud and Midrash. V. J.E. vol. XI, pp. 388f.
^ᵈnote:E.V. ‘that are above thy strength’.
^ᵉnote:E.V. ‘commanded’.
^ᶠnote:E.V. ‘no need of’.
^ᵍnote:For a variant version of this quotation v. Gen. Rab. VIII, which contains two additional clauses.
^ʰnote:Lit., ‘daughter of a voice’. According to Lampronti, Levy, Kohut (Aruch Completum) and Jast., it means an echo’; but L. Blau holds (J.E. vol. II, pp. 588f) that it means ‘sound’, ‘resonance’. For its secular use, v. Ex. Rab. XXIX, end; bit in our passage and Rabbinic literature passim, it refers to a heavenly or divine voice.
^ⁱnote:I.e., Nebuchadnezzar, who, in R. Johanan b. Zakkai's time, possibly suggested Titus.
^ʲnote:Isa. XIV, 14.
^ᵏnote:As Tosaf. a.l. points out, this statement is not to be taken literally; Nebuchadnezzar is to be regarded as a spiritual descendant of Nimrod because of the similarity of their deeds (the latter persecuted Abraham — cf. Targ. pseudo-Jonathan to Gen. XIV, I; Gen. R. XLII, 5; Cant. R. VIII, 8 — and the former led into captivity Abraham's descendants) and of their place of origin (Babylon).
^ˡnote:Lit., ‘against himself’, an obvious emendation, dictated by a pious desire to avoid blasphemy, of ‘against Me’ i.e., God. In ‘Er. 53a the text has been ‘corrected’ as here; but in Pes. 94b, Gen. R. s. 26 etc., the original reading is preserved.
^ᵐnote:Ps. XC, 10.
^ⁿnote:V. p. 69.
^ᵒnote:I.e., the seven heavens; v. n. 5.
^ᵖnote:I.e., the thickness of the hooves.
^ᵠnote:I.e., 15 (7 heavens and 8 interspaces) X 500 years. But in J. Ber. 13a the figure is given as 515, the numerical sum of vrah, ‘upright’; cf. Ezek. I, 7 (Tosaf.).
^ʳnote:Properly, the knee and its surrounding parts; cf. Hul. 76a.
^ˢnote:E.V. ‘Yet’ etc.
^ᵗnote:Isa. XIV, 14f.
^ᵘnote:Probably, the leading words of each section or subject (cf. Rashi a.l. and Jast. s. erp). Levy explains it as ‘the interpretations of single verses’. V. infra p. 77.
^ᵛnote:Ab Beth din, lit., ‘Father of a Beth din’ (house of judgment). The Beth din consisted of three (according to another view, five) members for monetary cases, and of twenty-three for capital cases; whilst the Beth din ha-Gadol (‘High Court’), or Great Sanhedrin, was comprised of seventy elders and the Nasi, who acted as president. The Ab Beth din of the Sanhedrin was the vice-president and most important of the seventy members (cf. Sanh. I, 1-4, Sonc. ed. pp. 1-4; and J.E. vol. lii, pp. 114f).
^ʷnote:I.e., he is reverential and not given to levity.
^ˣnote:I.e., one must have both qualifications viz., be the head of a court and reverential.
^ʸnote:Isa. III, 3. For the explanation of these qualifications v. p. 85.
^ᶻnote:This, and not Cuthean (substituted on account of the censorship), is undoubtedly the correct reading. Dicta of this kind were directed against heathens, and were inspired by the fear lest the knowledge of the Torah be unscrupulously used against Jews. Cf. the story of the Roman commissioners referred to in B.K., Sonc. ed., p. 215; also R. Johanan's statement in Sanh., Sonc. ed., p. 400 and Num. Rab. s. 13.
^ᵃᵃnote:Ps. CXLVII, 20,
^ᵃᵇnote:The ‘Work of the Chariot’ and the ‘Work of Creation’ mentioned in the next passage, were Baraithas (Rashi), which apparently, took the relevant passages of Genesis and Ezekiel as the basis of their expositions.
^ᵃᶜnote:Cf. p. 85, where the ‘captain of fifty’, mentioned supra as one of the qualifications of the man to whom the mysteries of the Torah may be transmitted, is explained as one who is fifty years of age.
^ᵃᵈnote:Lit., ‘R. Johanan's soul was at rest’ (cf. Isa. LVII, 2).
^ᵃᵉnote:Lit., ‘mouth of Beditha’ (a canal of the Euphrates). It was the seat of a great Jewish academy.
^ᵃᶠnote:Cant. IV, 11.
^ᵃᵍnote:I.e., the mysteries of the Chariot may not be taught, cf. our Mishnah (p. 59). The Rabbis considered the whole of Canticles as a figurative expression of the mystical relationship between God and Israel; thus the verse quoted, which the Bridegroom says to the Bride, is really the injunction of God to Israel.
^ᵃʰnote:I.e.,the prohibition to teach the ‘Chariot’ mysteries.
^ᵃⁱnote:Prov. XXVII, 26.
^ᵃʲnote:I.e., in thy bosom, a secret. The reading in MS.M. brings the Midrashic deduction out more clearly: Read not kebasim("lambs") but kebushim ("hidden things")things which are the mystery(kibshono) of the world must be kept under one's clothing’.
^ᵃᵏnote:I.e., the elders of Pumbeditha.
^ᵃˡnote:Ezek. II, 1.
^ᵃᵐnote:I.e., if you have learnt thus far,you have learnt much , for this passage included the very verses(Ezek. I,27,28) the teaching of which the Rabbis prohibited.
^ᵃⁿnote:Ezek. I,27, excluding Hashmal;v. n. 12.
^ᵃᵒnote:Ibid.,including Hashmal(E.V. ‘electrum’). By Hashmal, the whole subject thereof, which is described in this verse, is meant, not merely the word itself, which already occurs in v. 4. The objection here raised is that the statements of Rabbi and R. Isaac apparently contradict the statement of R. Joseph above, which seemed to imply that the passage dealing with the ‘Work of the Chariot’ extended to Ezek. II, 1.
^ᵃᵖnote:I.e., ‘I saw’ according to Rabbi, or ‘Hashmal’ according to R. Isaac,
^ᵃᵠnote:I.e., Rabbi and R. Isaac indicated not how far the ‘Work of the Chariot extended, but how far therein it was permissible to teach.
^ᵃʳnote:V. p. 75,n. 3.
^ᵃˢnote:Aram. teubh, a term applicable to a boy from infancy to school age. Hot-tinger's view (De Incestu etc., p. 54, quoted by A. W. Streane) that not a child in years but in knowledge of Talmud is meant is unlikely. Cf. the frequent use of the term in the Zohar.
^ᵃᵗnote:Cf. Neh. V, 19.
^ᵃᵘnote:Heb.zbdb lit., ‘hidden, stored away’, i.e., declared un-canonical. The idea and name of the Greek ‘Apocrypha’ have often been traced to this technical significance of the verb zbd in the Talmud; but this is denied by G. F. Moore, v. J.E., vol. II, pp. 1-2 and 6.
^ᵃᵛnote:Cf. Ezek, XVIII, 4, 20 with Ex. XX, 5, XXIV, 7; Ezek. XLIV, 31 with Lev. XXII, 8; Ezek. XLIV, 22 with Lev. XXI, 14; also Ezek. XLV, 20, which mentions a sacrifice for the seventh day of the first month, entirely unknown from the Torah. V. Rashi to the above verses of Ezek., and Men. 45a, and Kid. 78a.
^ᵃʷnote:‘A bottle, keg’, as a ‘measure (Jast.); ‘an earthen jar’, (Levy). The oil was to provide light for study.
^ᵃˣnote:Jast. translates: ‘speculated over the Hashmal’. Had the child drawn a picture of it? (V. J.E. vol. III, p. 148, s. 11).
^ᵃʸnote:I.e., the Rabbis.
^ᵃᶻnote:I.e., the case of the child is exceptional: having a Sage's understanding of the mysteries of Hashmal, he endangered his life by his speculation; but ordinary readers of Ezekiel would not run any risk.

²Living creatures speaking fire. In a Baraitha it is taught: [Hashmal means], At times they are silent, at times they speak. When the utterance goes forth from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, they are silent, and when the utterance goes not forth from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, they speak. And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. What is the meaning of ‘ran and returned’? — Rab Judah said: Like the flame that goes forth from the mouth of a furnace. What is the meaning of ‘as the appearance of a flash of lightning’? — R. Jose b. Hanina said: Like the flame that goes forth from between the potsherds. And I looked, and, behold a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud with a fire flashing up, so that a brightness was round about it; and out of the midst thereof as the colour of electrum [Hashmal], out of the midst of the fire. Whither did it go? Rab Judah said that Rab said: It went to subdue the whole world under the wicked Nebuchadnezzar. And wherefore all this? — That the peoples of the world might not say: Into the hand of a low people the Holy One, blessed be he, delivered His children, The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Who caused Me to be a servant to idol-worshippers? The iniquities of Israel, they caused Me. Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel at the bottom hard by the living creatures. R. Eleazar said: [It means] a certain angel, who stands on the earth and his head reaches unto the living creatures. In a Baraitha it is taught: His name is Sandalfon; he is higher than his fellows by a [distance of] five hundred years’ journey, and he stands behind the Chariot and wreathes crowns for his Maker. But is it so? Behold it is written: Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place,’ accordingly, no one knows His place! — He pronounces the [Divine] Name over the crown, and it goes and rests on His head. Raba said: All that Ezekiel saw Isaiah saw. What does Ezekiel resemble? A villager who saw the king. And what does Isaiah resemble? A townsman who saw the king. Resh Lakish said: What is the meaning of the verse: I will sing unto the Lord, for He is highly exalted? [It means] a song to him who is exalted over the exalted ones. For a Master said: The king of the wild animals is the lion; the king of the cattle is the ox; the king of the birds is the eagle; and man is exalted over them; and the Holy One, blessed be He, is exalted over all of then, and over the whole world. One verse says: As for the likeness of their faces, they had the face of a man; and they four had the face of a lion on the right side,’ and they four had the face of an ox on the left side etc. And [elsewhere] it is written: And everyone had four, faces; the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle; but the ox is not mentioned! — Resh Lakish said: Ezekiel entreated concerning it and changed it into a cherub. He said before Him: Lord of the universe, shall an accuser become an advocate! What is the meaning of cherub? — R. Abbahu said: Like a child [Rabia]; for so in Babylonia a child is called Rabia. R. Papa said to Abaye: But according to this, [what is the meaning of] the verse, ‘The first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle’: are not the face of the cherub and the face of a man the same! — [The one is] a big face, and [the other is] a small face. One verse says: Each one had six wings; and another verse says: And every one had four faces, and every one of them had four wings! — There is no contradiction: the one refers to the time when the Temple was no longer standing, [when] as it were, the wings of the living creatures were diminished. Which of them were taken away? — R. Hananel said that Rab said: Those with which they utter song. [For] here it is written: And with twain he did fly. And one called unto another and said; and [elsewhere] it is written: Wilt thou set thine eyes upon it? It is gone. But our Rabbis said: Those with which they cover their feet, for it is said: And their feet were straight feet, and if [these wings] had not been taken away, whence could he have known! — Perhaps, [the feet] were exposed and he saw them. For if you do not say so, [then from the words], As for the likeness of their faces, they had the face of man, [one might infer] likewise that [the wings covering them] were taken away! They must therefore have been exposed, and he saw them; similarly here, they were exposed, and he saw them. But how can they be compared? Granted that it is customary to expose one's face before one's master, but it is not customary to expose one's feet before one's master! One verse says: Thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him; and another verse says: Is there any number of His armies? — There is no contradiction: the one refers to a time when the Temple was standing, and the other refers to a time when the Temple was no longer standing; [when] as it were, the heavenly household was diminished. It is taught: Rabbi said in the name of Abba Jose b. Dosai: ‘Thousand thousands ministered unto ‘Him’, — this is the number of one troop; but of His troops there is no number. But Jeremiah b. Aba said: ‘Thousand thousand ministered unto Him’ — at the fiery stream, for it is said: A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him; thousand thousands ministered unto Him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. Whence does it come forth? — From the sweat of the ‘living creatures’, And whither does it pour forth? R. Zutra b. Tobiah said that Rab said: Upon the head of the wicked in Gehinnom, for it is said: Behold, a storm of the Lord is gone forth in fury, yea, a whirling storm; it shall whirl upon the head of the wicked. But R. Aha b. Jacob said: Upon those who pressed forward, for it is said: Who pressed forward before their time, whose foundation was poured out as a stream. It is taught: R. Simeon the Pious said: These are the nine hundred and seventy four generations who pressed themselves forward to be created 52^ᵇᵃ^ᵇᵇ^ᵇᶜ^ᵇᵈ^ᵇᵉ^ᵇᶠ^ᵇᵍ^ᵇʰ^ᵇⁱ^ᵇʲ^ᵇᵏ^ᵇˡ^ᵇᵐ^ᵇⁿ^ᵇᵒ^ᵇᵖ^ᵇᵠ^ᵇʳ^ᵇˢ^ᵇᵗ^ᵇᵘ^ᵇᵛ^ᵇʷ^ᵇˣ^ᵇʸ^ᵇᶻ^ᶜᵃ^ᶜᵇ^ᶜᶜ^ᶜᵈ^ᶜᵉ^ᶜᶠ^ᶜᵍ^ᶜʰ^ᶜⁱ^ᶜʲ^ᶜᵏ^ᶜˡ^ᶜᵐ^ᶜⁿ^ᶜᵒ^ᶜᵖ^ᶜᵠ^ᶜʳ^ᶜˢ^ᶜᵗ^ᶜᵘ^ᶜᵛ^ᶜʷ^ᶜˣ^ᶜʸ^ᶜᶻ

^ᵇᵃnote:I.e. knaj is explained as an abbreviation of ,ukknn at ,uhj
^ᵇᵇnote:I.e., Hashmal is an abbreviation of ,ukknn ,uaj, ‘silent, speaking’.
^ᵇᶜnote:Ezek. 1,14.
^ᵇᵈnote:I.e., a brick-kiln.
^ᵇᵉnote:I.e., perforated earthen pieces used in smelting gold. ezc (E.V. ‘flash of lightning’) is here explained in its Aramaic sense of ‘a fragment, piece of pottery’.
^ᵇᶠnote:Ibid. v. 4.
^ᵇᵍnote:I.e., the stormy wind coming out of the north.
^ᵇʰnote:Cf. for the thought Git. 56b=Sanh. 104b, (Sonc. ed., p. 710), ‘Whoever distresses Israel becomes a chief’.
^ᵇⁱnote:Ezek. I, 15.
^ᵇʲnote:Perhaps from Grk. ** == cobrother. Sandalfon is described as brother of Metatron; v. J.E. vol. XI, pp. 39-40; cf. also Longfellow's poem ‘Sandalphon’.
^ᵇᵏnote:I.e., offers up the prayers of the righteous.
^ᵇˡnote:Ezek. III, 12.
^ᵇᵐnote:I.e., the vagueness of the expression ‘from His place’ indicates that God's place is unknown even to His angels.
^ᵇⁿnote:I.e., Sandalfon,
^ᵇᵒnote:[MS.M. ‘in its place : i.e., the prayer is effective.]
^ᵇᵖnote:V. Isa. VI, 1 ff: Despite the differences between the descriptions given by Isaiah and Ezekiel, they both saw identical visions of God's glory.
^ᵇᵠnote:According to Rashi, the point is that the rustic — to whom the sight of the king is a novelty — is naturally inclined to give his impressions at length. But Tosaf. explains that the villager has to give a detailed description of the royal splendour in order to convince his hearers that he actually saw the king. Likewise Ezekiel, to whom was granted the rare distinction, of prophecy outside Palestine, had to prove by a detailed account that he actually beheld the Divine Glory though he dwelt by the river Chebar.
^ᵇʳnote:The townsman — to whom the king is a familiar sight is not inclined to indulge in any lengthy description (Rashi); nor does he have to go into details in order to convince his hearers of the truth of his statement (Tosaf.).
^ᵇˢnote:Ex. XV, 1.
^ᵇᵗnote:This is an explanation of the words of the text, vtd vtd (E.V. ‘highly exalted’), which mean lit., ‘to be exalted he is exalted’.
^ᵇᵘnote:Ezek. I, 10.
^ᵇᵛnote:Ezek. X, 14.
^ᵇʷnote:I.e., Ezekiel before God.
^ᵇˣnote:The ox would be a reminder of Israel's sin in connection with the golden calf.
^ᵇʸnote:Israel required the Divine Chariot to intercede for them. Cf. R.H. 26a.
^ᵇᶻnote:The word curf (‘Cherub’) is explained as composed of ,f (‘like’) and cur =thcr (‘a growing boy’). For modern suggestions regarding the root-meaning of the word v. B.D.B. s.v.
^ᶜᵃnote:I.e., the face of a man and the face of a boy.
^ᶜᵇnote:Isa. VI, 2.
^ᶜᶜnote:Ezek. I, 6. It is assumed that the ‘Seraphim’ of Isaiah and the ‘living creatures’ of Ezekiel had originally the same number of wings.
^ᶜᵈnote:I.e., Isa. VI, 2.
^ᶜᵉnote:I.e., the time for the destruction of the Temple had come. Ezekiel prophesied the event, and lived to learn of the fulfilment of his prophecy, as well as to foretell the rebuilding of the Sanctuary.
^ᶜᶠnote:Lit., ‘as though it were possible’, refers to an allegorical or anthropomorphous expression with reference to the Lord (Jast.), or, as here, to the celestial creatures.
^ᶜᵍnote:Ibid. vv. 2, 3.
^ᶜʰnote:The juxtaposition of the two verses shows that with the wings with which they flew they also uttered God's praise.
^ᶜⁱnote:Lit., ‘cause to fly’; cf. also rest of verse, Prov. XXIII, 5. The occurrence of the word fly in the two passages shows that it is the wings with which the heavenly beings fly (i.e., utter their song to God) that are gone. This verse in Proverbs is understood by the Rabbis to refer to the neglect of the study of the Torah (cf. Rashi a. l., and Ber. 5a, Meg. 18a): the meaning would seem to be that when the Torah is neglected the divine song of the angels is silenced.
^ᶜʲnote:Ezek. I, 7.
^ᶜᵏnote:l.e., that their feet were straight.
^ᶜˡnote:Ibid. I, 10,
^ᶜᵐnote:I.e., their faces.
^ᶜⁿnote:I.e,, their feet.
^ᶜᵒnote:Dan. VII, 10.
^ᶜᵖnote:Job. XXV, 3.
^ᶜᵠnote:I.e., the verse in Job.
^ᶜʳnote:Heb. thknp from Lat. Familia.
^ᶜˢnote:I.e, the verse gives the number only of those attending God at the fiery stream, but not of all His angels, which are innumerable.
^ᶜᵗnote:I.e., ‘place of punishment of the wicked in the hereafter, hell’ (Jast.). Cf. II Kings XXIII, 10; Jer. VII, 31, 32, etc.; II Chron. XXVIII, 3.
^ᶜᵘnote:Heb.vnj understood in the sense of vnj, ‘hot’, is taken as a reference to the fiery stream.
^ᶜᵛnote:Jer. XXIII, 19.
^ᶜʷnote:So Jast. and Levy; v. infra n. 7. Goldschmidt trans., die verdrangt worden sind’ (who were suppressed or displaced); Rashi trans., ‘who were decreed (to be created)’, MS.M. adds here, ‘before their time’.
^ᶜˣnote:E.V. ‘who were snatched away’.
^ᶜʸnote:Job XXII, 16. The word ‘stream’ is the link between this verse and Dan. VII, 10.
^ᶜᶻnote:According to the Rabbinic interpretation of Ps. CV, 8, the Divine Plan originally envisaged the creation of a thousand generations prior to the giving of the Torah, but foreseeing their wickedness, God held back nine hundred and seventy-four generations, and gave the Torah at the end of twenty-six generations from Adam (cf. Gen. V, XI, Ex. VI, 16-20, and Seder ‘Olam Ch. 1). The translation here follows the text of MS. M. 2 (v. D.S. a.I. n. 20) viz. ,utrchvk inmg (pi'el) uynhea cur. edd.: ,utrchvk(pu'al) uynuea