For those who came in late.
Merkavah mysticism is mysticism of the Chariot Throne of Yahweh. The vision of the chariot throne is derived from the experiences of Ezekiel and Isaiah.
Hekhalot literature is literature of the palaces and the pathways required to be navigated in the descent to the throne of Yahweh. Yes that’s correct. One descends to the throne. Much ink has been spilled over this. (I know what it means of course. I am forbidden by many fearsome oaths from telling you however*.)
Here was a Torah observant apocalyptic Jewish sect whose origins are lost in the mists of early Second Temple Judaism and that lasted for dang near 1000 years. I suppose I’ve always assumed that if the Jesus movement had remained a Jewish sect that it would have been unsuccessful and disappeared. But who can say?
*Isn’t that funny? I can hint of some deep initiation without having to actually demonstrate it with any specifics.
In case you haven’t figured it out yet this is my own Steefen-like thread where I go on about my own personal interests. The difference is I do possess at least a modicum of a sense of humor and I invite audience participation.
The subject is relevant to our overarching enterprise. Your patience will be rewarded.
Stephen said
. . . In case you haven’t figured it out yet this is my own Steefen-like thread where I go on about my own personal interests. The difference is I do possess at least a modicum of a sense of humor and I invite audience participation. . . .
You also are not posting nearly with enough volume and frequency. Plus, your posting style is hardly sufficiently quirky. Maybe you could try having far too many drinks first.
cstu said
“All four had the same form; the appearance and structure of each was as of two wheels cutting through each other.”Sounds like dually…cool chariot, God.
** you do not have permission to see this link **
That’s a really good article. I’m not familiar with Prof Ehrlich’s work. I’d like to read his book on Saul. My favorite OT character.
I have an old German book that reproduces many ancient near eastern texts and images. One such image that depicts God’s throne chariot is very similar to Ezekiel’s vision. Wheels, eyes, wings, etc. An authentic illustration for any book or article that I’ve never seen reproduced elsewhere. Strange.
JAS wrote
You also are not posting nearly with enough volume and frequency.
What performer can resist the call for more?
Plus, your posting style is hardly sufficiently quirky.
If I’m not mistaken Steefen doesn’t provide foot notes.
Maybe you could try having far too many drinks first.
I’m not much a of drinker. But there is that pewter vial with the green paste that my nephew brought back from his last trip to Morocco. He did say “one teaspoon would be sufficient” and that it was the “real stuff”, whatever that means.
When you dip into the esoteric it pays to have a sense of humor. David Blumenthal, the commentator for the translation of the Pirkei Hekhalot (aka, Hekhalot Rabbati, aka “The Book of Greater Palaces” ) which I am currently reading, has a very dry wit. The note for one passage:
The original texts here are more obscure than usual.
Perhaps this won’t strike someone as especially funny unless they’ve spent some time with the material.
So why do I want to spend time with the material? In the larger sense, who knows? Why is anyone interested in anything? More concretely I have always been interested in the way ancient people viewed the world. Their cosmology. From that interest sprang an appreciation of how differently the ancients thought than we do. I am fascinated by truly different ways of thinking. I am able to consider (and even in some sense enter into*) ideas without having to believe that they’re “true”. For example I’m an atheist but I am totally fascinated by the concept of the Trinity. (A fascination which did not exist when I was a believer!)
So what’s the point? I’m not a scholar. I don’t have the discipline or the focus. (Thank god I realized that before I wasted half my life in academia.) I’m not a teacher. If you want that kind of thing the link cstu provided above is the way to go. But as good as such a overview is it tends to wrap up and tie off all the loose ends and that’s where a lot of the fun is. What I am going to do is hold up some ideas that I find interesting and to me seem worth thinking about. I have no axe to grind, no fixation. I want to take this material on its own terms. That’s the point. And if I cannot understand perhaps I can misunderstand creatively.
* “Enter into” in the sense meant by William Blake, through the power of the active imagination. In that sense a god could be said to “exist” when someone believes. Not a sense bound to please our fundamentalists.
Only slightly related to Stephen’s post, when I was an English major in college I was faced with that awful question of what I would be doing for a living with my degree. I fairly quickly decided that I did not wish to go into teaching, a decision that I think looks wiser and wiser in hindsight. Although I use my English degree training in pretty much everything I do everyday at work as a computer programmer, and the skills thus learned from any number of the humanities are applicable to many areas of employment, those who actually do the hiring seem not to place a very high value on such a background. As it turns out, I was able to find a productive and successful career that kept me fed and housed, while still dabbling in literary matters on the side. Thus, I can participate in the academic field (mostly as my heart leads me) without being a profession academic (where I would be subjected to all sort of administrative and political silliness as well as students who really hardly care or are prepared for their studies). The waves of theory were just beginning to consume the humanities, and I was fortunate to be able to miss out on quite a lot of that by not going to graduate school. And I have been able to focus my own efforts on more traditional lines of study, which are still critical but no longer appreciated or rewarded by most departments and tenure committees.
JAS it’s almost impossible to get jobs in the humanities these days. Departments are dying. That’s why the universities are going full tilt boogie for the cultural issues. Attention. Is that cynical?
My only real regret is not having an ancient language. If I had it to do over I think I would keep the literature degree but trade the philosophy for classics. I would love to be able to read Homer in greek.
OMG and down the rabbit hole we go…or better…through the Looking Glass!
Robert I want to read the Targum of Ezekiel in English. I’m too lazy and stupid to ever learn Aramaic. I can’t find a complete English translation online. For free. Am I going to have to pay 60 to 90 bucks American for the Michael Glazier “Aramaic Bible” series volume 13? Break it to me gently.
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