FROM BOOK SEVEN, MYTHS OF THE HOLY PEOPLE

 

428. ABRAHAM’S GLOWING STONE

 

Abraham wore a glowing stone around his neck. Some say that it was a pearl, others that

it was a jewel. The light emitted by that jewel was like the light of the sun, illuminating

the entire world. Abraham used that stone as an astrolabe to study the motion of the

stars, and with its help he became a master astrologer. For his power of reading the stars,

Abraham was much sought after by the potentates of East and West. So too did that

glowing precious stone bring immediate healing to any sick person who looked into it.

   At the moment when Abraham took leave of this world, the precious stone raised

itself and flew up to heaven. God took it and hung it on the wheel of the sun.

 

This talmudic legend about a glowing stone that Abraham wore around his neck is

a part of the chain of legends about that glowing jewel, known as the Tzohar, which

was first given to Adam and Eve when they were expelled from the Garden of Eden

and also came into the possession of Noah, who hung it in the ark. See “The Tzohar, p.

85. This version of the legend adds the detail that the glowing stone was also an astrolabe,

with which Abraham could study the stars.

 

Sources:

B. Bava Batra 16b; Zohar 1:11a-11b, Idra Rabbah.

 

Studies:

The Jewish Alchemists by Raphael Patai.

 

 

434. GOD BEGAT ISAAC

 

One of the most sacred mysteries of the Torah concerns Isaac’s true father. Although

Abraham rejoiced when he learned that he was to become a father, the truth is that it was

the Lord who begat Isaac. For the Lord visited Sarah and did to her as He had spoken,

and she conceived. That is why God said, “I gave him Isaac” (Josh. 24:3) and formed him in

the womb of her who gave birth to him.” Nevertheless, Isaac resembled Abraham in

every respect.

   It is said that Sarah was accustomed to bring forth children for God alone, restoring

with gratitude the first fruit of all the blessings she had received, since she was a virgin

when God opened her womb (Gen. 29:31). For it does not say that Sarah did not give

birth at all, only that she did not bring forth for Abraham, for she told him, “The Lord has

kept me from bearing” (Gen. 16:2).

   So too is it said that Sarah herself was not born of a human mother, but that she was

born of God, the Father and Cause of all things. Indeed, she transcended the entire world

of bodily forms and exulted in the joy of God.

   Others say that Sarah’s conception and the birth of Isaac took place on the same day, as

it is said, Sarah conceived and bore a son (Gen. 21:2). For unlike others, the soul of Isaac was

not conceived at one time and born at another. A heavenly light appeared at his birth, as

happened with Noah.

   So too was it God who named Isaac when He said, “But My covenant I will maintain with

Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year.” (Gen. 17:21). For his name was

ordained and written in the heavenly tablets. This was the only time that God named a

child before he was born. Isaac was conceived on Rosh ha-Shanah, the New Year, and his

birth book place on the first day of Passover. On the day of Isaac’s birth the sun shone with

a splendor that had not been seen since the sin of Adam and Eve and will only be seen

again in the World to Come. So too did all creation rejoice: the earth, the heavens, the sun,

the moon, and the stars. For had Isaac not been born, the world would have ceased to exist.

 

   Here Philo brings yet another perspective to the story of Isaac by revealing “one of

the most sacred mysteries”—that it was God, not Abraham, who begat Isaac. Philo’s

belief in this strange interpretation of the conception of Isaac appears in at least six

texts where Philo suggests that God was the true father of Isaac. Philo’s interpretation

perhaps influenced Christianity. Just as Jesus was said to be the son of God, so too is

Isaac identified as a son of God. How does Philo arrive at this explanation? He interprets

Sarah’s comment that “God has caused me laughter” (Gen. 21:6) to mean that the

Lord has begotten Isaac. He interprets “has caused” to mean “begotten,” and he substitutes

Isaac for “laughter,” since “Isaac” means “laughter,” referring to Sarah’s laughter

in Genesis 18:12, when the angel said that she would have a child even though

Sarah was 90 years old.

   Philo apparently wrote a now-lost text on Isaac, entitled De Isaaco. Goodenough

speculates that “De Isaaco developed as its central theme the fact that Isaac was so

completely at one with the power behind the cosmos that he typified joy” (By Light,

Light p. 154).

   The Christian parallel to this interpretation of Philo is obvious: God begat Isaac

through Sarah just as God begat Jesus through Mary. Sarah herself is a kind of virgin

in that she is childless. Did Philo mean to suggest a Jewish version of the myth of the

birth of a Jewish savior? Not necessarily, in that Philo is quick to reduce the myth to

allegory, by describing God as “perfect in nature, sowing and begetting happiness in

the soul.” So too does Philo insist that Isaac was not born a man, but as a pure thought.

As a result, some readers might consider Philo’s interpretation pure allegory, but Philo

cannot escape the implications of his commentaries, making the mythic explanation

of Isaac’s birth unavoidable.

   In addition to the obvious Christian parallel, there are also parallels from Greek

myth, where Zeus takes many mortals as lovers.

   There are other instances of supernatural conception found in Jewish tradition.

The verse in which Eve says, “I have received a man from God” (Gen. 4:1) is interpreted

to mean not that God fathered Cain, but that the serpent begat Cain. See “How Cain

Was Conceived.” p. 447. Also, there is the myth of the conception of Rabbi Ishmael,

the High Priest, whose true father was said to be the angel Gabriel. See “How Rabbi

Ishmael was Conceived,” p. 201.

 

Sources:

B. Berakhot 1:6; B. Bava Metzia 87a; B. Bava Batra 17a; Bereshit Rabbah 61:6; Midrash

Tanhuma-Yelammedenu, Toledot 2; Midrash ha-Gadol on Genesis 17:22; Targum

Yonathan on Genesis 22:10; Shoher Tov 90:18; The Book of Jubilees 16:3, 16:12; Philo,

Legum Allegoriarum 3:218-19; Philo, De Somniis 2:10; Philo, De Congressu

Eruditionis Gratia 1:7-9; Philo, De Cherubim 43-47; Philo, De Fuga et Inventione 166-

168; Philo, De Ebrietate 56-62; Zohar 1:60a.

 

Studies:

By Light, Light: The Mystic Gospel of Hellenistic Judaism by Erwin Ramsdell

Goodenough, pp. 153-166.

2 Enoch in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, edited by James Charlesworth, p. 204,

note 71c.

The Last Trial by Shalom Spiegel.

 

 

470. JACOB THE ANGEL

 

Jacob was no ordinary man. If the truth be known, his true name was Israel, and he was

an angel of God, the very archangel of the power of the Lord and the first minister before

the face of God. Indeed, he was the first living being to whom God gave life, with the

beauty of Adam.

   When the angel Israel descended to earth and became Jacob, he forgot his divine origin.

God tried to remind him when He sent him the dream of the ladder reaching from

earth to heaven, so that he might glimpse the celestial world he had left behind.

In the dream angels of God were ascending and descending on it (Gen. 28:12). For the angels

who had accompanied him from his father’s house went up to heaven to announce to the

angels on high: “Come and see Jacob the pious, whose image is fixed upon the Throne of

Glory, the one you have longed to see.” Then the rest of the holy angels of the Lord came

down to look at him. That is why the angels went up and down the ladder, for they ascended

to see the face carved on the celestial throne, and they descended to see the face of

Jacob as he slept, whose features were identical to those carved on high.

   In the dream Jacob heard the voice of God say, “You, too, Jacob, climb up the ladder.”

For God was trying to remind Jacob that he was an angel, and that the time had come for

him to return to the heavenly realm. But Jacob said, “Master of the Universe, I am afraid

that if I climb up I will have to come down.” Nor did he ascend on high. Indeed, it is said

that if Jacob had climbed up the ladder, he would not have had to come down again, and

Israel would have been spared great suffering.

   Thus when Jacob wrestled with the angel at the River Yabbok, the struggle was not

that of a man and angel, but that of two angels—Uriel and Israel. Some say that Uriel had

been sent to remind Jacob of his divine origin, saying, “Know that you were once an

angel, who descended to earth and took up dwelling among humans and your name

became Jacob. Now your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel” (Gen. 32:29). Others

say that Uriel wrestled with Jacob, saying, “My name will take precedence over your

name and the names of every other angel.” At first Jacob did not understand, but suddenly

he remembered that he once was an angel. And Jacob said, “Are you not Uriel?

Have you forgotten that I am Israel, the chief commander among the heavenly hosts?”

And Jacob called out God’s secret Name and thus defeated him.

   Still others insist that Jacob did not become an angel until after his death; only then

did he become an immortal angel.

   Sometime before or after his death, Jacob himself said, “For I who speak to you, I

Jacob-Israel, am an angel of God and a ruling spirit, the first servant before the presence

of God. It was God who gave me the name Israel, which means, ‘the man who sees God,’

because I am the firstborn of all living beings that God brought to life.”

 

   Of the many theories about the meaning of Jacob’s struggle with a mysterious figure

at the River Yabbok (Gen. 33:25-31), one of the most interesting is that Jacob was

not only wrestling with an angel, but that he himself was the angel Israel. This explains

why the angel with whom he wrestled tells Jacob Your name shall be called Jacob

no more, but Israel (Gen. 32:29). This suggests that the reason the angel Uriel had been

sent was to remind Jacob of his true identity as an angel, something he had apparently

forgotten during his foray among humans.

   This myth grows out of an extensive, if somewhat obscure, tradition that identifies

Jacob as an angel or some other kind of divine being. It is primarily found in magical

and mystical literature, and in these texts Jacob’s identity as the angel Israel sometimes

converges with that of the nation of Israel. Such identification grows first out of

the fact that Jacob is also known as Israel. Thus, just as Abram became Abraham and

Sarai became Sarah, so the angel with whom he wrestled announced to Jacob that his

name would now be Israel. Of course, this is also the name of the nation of Israel.

Thus the special traditions linked to Jacob may derive from this identification of man

and nation.

   In addition, Jacob is often identified as the ideal man, who represents the human

race (much as does Adam), and whose face appears on the divine throne (see Ezek.

1:10, 1:26). Further, it is suggested several times that Jacob was made wholly of fire,

and that his ability to withstand the power of the angel demonstrated his divine nature.

Further evidence is found in Jacob’s ability to cause Laban’s flocks to bring forth

streaked, speckled, and spotted young (Gen. 30:39). For this reason Midrash Tehillim

interprets the verse You have made him little less than divine (Ps. 8:6) as referring to

Jacob, “thereby proving that Jacob was less than God only in that he had not the power

to put the breath of life into them” (Midrash Tehillim 8:6).

   Further, according to Midrash Tehillim 31:7, Jacob was said to have been one of the

two to whom God revealed the time of redemption. The other was Daniel. (See Daniel

10:14). Jacob’s divine knowledge is said to have been revealed by his final words to

his sons, where he says, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall befall

you in the end of days” (Gen. 49:1). This phrase, “the end of days,” became the primary

term for the messianic era which was so eagerly awaited. In fact, Midrash Tehillim 14:7

suggests that Jacob alone, among the patriarchs, will be invited to the feast of redemption:

“When the Lord brought His people out of captivity, then Jacob will exult, Israel

will rejoice (Ps. 14:7). Of all the patriarchs, why is it that Jacob is named as rejoicing? R.

Shimon ben Lakish answered: ‘When the children of Israel sin, only Jacob in the Cave

of Machpelah feels defiled. So when the gladness of redemption comes, Jacob will

rejoice in it more than any of the other patriarchs. For he alone of the patriarchs will be

called to the feast, as it is said, Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called (Isa. 48:12).

What does ‘Israel whom I have called’ mean? It means Israel, who will be called to the

feast.’”

   There is also a legend that Jacob is the man in the moon, which probably derives

from the myth that Jacob’s face appears on the divine throne. See Louis Ginzberg,

Legends of the Jews, vol. 5, p. 305, note 248.

   In identifying Jacob as the “first minister of the face of God,” Jacob is given the role

traditionally played by Metatron, the angel of the Presence. This is the only angel who

is said to be permitted to see God face to face. It would seem likely that there were

early mystical circles in which Jacob played a Metatron-like role as the primary angel.

But all that remains of the evidence of these circles are pseudepigraphal fragments,

especially the Prayer of Joseph. See also the Wolfson article listed below.

   All of these traditions concern the divine origin or divine nature of Jacob. In some it

appears that Jacob was originally the angel Israel (Prayer of Joseph), while others suggest

that Jacob’s soul made a heavenly journey through the palaces of heaven (“Blessed are

you ... for you entered the palace above and remained alive.”—Midrash Avkir). See “Jacob’s

Ascent on High,” p. 361. Jacob is also identified as the human face that Ezekiel saw on

the Divine Chariot (Merkavah) (Ezek. 1:10, 1:26). This reference, Targum Neophyti, says

about Jacob that his “likeness is set upon the divine throne.” A similar tradition is also

found in Genesis Rabbah (68:12) where it is said about Jacob that “You are the one whose

features are engraved on high.” In the same source God is said to have shown Jacob a

throne of three legs, and God said to him: “You are the third leg,” i.e., Jacob is the third

patriarch.

   The primary sources of this unusual interpretation of the account of Jacob wrestling

with the angel are two pseudepigraphical texts, Prayer of Joseph and The Ladder of

Jacob. Prayer of Joseph, a fragment, begins: “I, Jacob, who am speaking to you, am also

Israel, an angel of God.” This fragment also recounts that “I am the firstborn of every

living thing to whom God gives life.” This suggests that Jacob was a kind of protohuman,

an Adam-like figure, or even something similar to the kabbalistic figure of Adam

Kadmon, whose creation was said to have preceded that of the earthly Adam.

While most texts link Jacob’s face with the face carved on the throne on high, Pirkei

de-Rabbi Eliezer 35 has the ministering angels say, “This is a face like the face of the

holy beast on the Throne of Glory.” This identifies of Jacob with one of the hayyot, the

celestial beasts, who are said to reside in the highest heavens. Thus while most texts

identify the face of Jacob with the mysterious human face on God’s throne—a face

that is intimately linked to God Himself—the text from Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer avoids

this direct link with God.

   The identification of the angel with whom Jacob wrestles as Uriel also derives from

Prayer of Joseph 1:5-9, which supplies the reason for the wrestling—jealousy on the

part of Uriel: “He envied me and fought with me and wrestled with me, saying that

his name and the name that is before every angel was to be above mine. I told him his

name and what rank he held among the songs of God. `Are you not Uriel, the eighth

after me? and I am Israel, the archangel of the power of the Lord and the chief captain

among the songs of God. Am I not Israel, the first minister before the face of God? I

called upon my God by the ineffable Name.’ ”

   The model for an angelic descent into this world is found in the midrashim concerning

Genesis 6, the Sons of God and the daughters of men. Here two angels, Shemhazai

and Azazel, are said to have convinced God to let them descend to this world to demonstrate

that they would not be swayed by the Yetzer ha-Ra, the Evil Inclination. See “The

Star Maiden,” p. 455. The fragment in Prayer of Joseph suggests a similar scenario, with

the angel Israel having descended to earth to become the patriarch Jacob.

   The cult of Jacob worship extended beyond the Jews. It is a theme found in Gnostic

and Manichean texts; in the latter, it is stated that “we worship the Lord Jacob, the angel.”

It is interesting to note that there is an apocryphal Christian tradition about Jesus

being an angel. According to The Gospel of the Ebionites, Jesus was not begotten of God

the Father, but was created as one of the archangels, and he rules over the angels and all

the creatures of God (Epiphanius, Haer. 30.16.4f). See “Jacob the Divine,” following.

 

Sources:

Targum Pseudo-Yonathan on Genesis 28:12; Targum Neophyti, Fragment Targum (Ms. P)

Gen 28:12; Prayer of Joseph, Fragment A; Philo, De Somniis 1:150, 153-156; B. Hullin

91b; Genesis Rabbah 68:12; Hekhalot Rabbati 9; Midrash Tehillim 78:6; Pirkei de-Rabbi

Eliezer 35; Midrash Avkir; Sha’arei ha-Gilgulim, Sha’ar ha-Shorashim 24.

 

Studies:

“Jacob as an Angel in Gnosticism and Manicheism” by Alexander Bohlig.

“The Face of Jacob in the Moon: Mystical Transformations of an Aggadic Myth” by

Elliot R. Wolfson.

“The Image of Jacob Engraved upon the Throne: Further Reflections on the Esoteric

Doctrine of the German Pietists” by Elliot R. Wolfson.

Along the Path by Elliot R. Wolfson, pp. 1-62.