Chagigah

Living creatures speaking fire.1 In a Baraitha it is taught: [Hashmal means], At times they are silent, at times they speak.2 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.3 What is the meaning of ‘ran and returned’? — Rab Judah said: Like the flame that goes forth from the mouth of a furnace.4 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.5 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.6 Whither did it7 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,8 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.9 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;10 he is higher than his fellows by a [distance of] five hundred years’ journey, and he stands behind the Chariot and wreathes crowns11 for his Maker. But is it so? Behold it is written: Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place,’12 accordingly, no one knows His place!13 — He14 pronounces the [Divine] Name over the crown, and it goes and rests on His head.15 Raba said: All that Ezekiel saw Isaiah saw.16 What does Ezekiel resemble? A villager who saw the king.17 And what does Isaiah resemble? A townsman who saw the king.18 Resh Lakish said: What is the meaning of the verse: I will sing unto the Lord, for He is highly exalted?19 [It means] a song to him who is exalted over the exalted ones.20 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.21 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;22 but the ox is not mentioned! — Resh Lakish said: Ezekiel entreated concerning it and changed it into a cherub. He said before Him:23 Lord of the universe, shall an accuser24 become an advocate!25 What is the meaning of cherub? — R. Abbahu said: Like a child [Rabia];26 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.27 One verse says: Each one had six wings;28 and another verse says: And every one had four faces, and every one of them had four wings!29 — There is no contradiction: the one30 refers to the time when the Temple was no longer standing,31 [when] as it were,32 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] here33 it is written: And with twain he did fly. And one called unto another and said;34 and [elsewhere] it is written: Wilt thou set thine eyes upon it? It is gone.35 But our Rabbis said: Those with which they cover their feet, for it is said: And their feet were straight feet,36 and if [these wings] had not been taken away, whence could he have known!37 — 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,38 [one might infer] likewise that [the wings covering them] were taken away! They39 must therefore have been exposed, and he saw them; similarly here, they40 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;41 and another verse says: Is there any number of His armies?42 — There is no contradiction: the one43 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 household44 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,45 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.41 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,46 for it is said: Behold, a storm of the Lord is gone forth in fury,47 yea, a whirling storm; it shall whirl upon the head of the wicked.48 But R. Aha b. Jacob said: Upon those who pressed forward,49 for it is said: Who pressed forward50 before their time, whose foundation was poured out as a stream.51 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 sense of ‘a fragment, piece of pottery’. also Longfellow's poem ‘Sandalphon’. identical visions of God's glory. 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. nor does he have to go into details in order to convince his hearers of the truth of his statement (Tosaf.). he is exalted’. modern suggestions regarding the root-meaning of the word v. B.D.B. s.v. number of wings. fulfilment of his prophecy, as well as to foretell the rebuilding of the Sanctuary. (Jast.), or, as here, to the celestial creatures. 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. innumerable. Chron. XXVIII, 3. Rashi trans., ‘who were decreed (to be created)’, MS.M. adds here, ‘before their time’. 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