חגיגה 13:1 — Soncino English Talmud

refers 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.