<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">Coursebook for the FJC Conservative Yeshivah - Fall תשפ"ד 2024</p> # The Spirit of Y-H-V-H ![](6%20Pasted%20image%20Prophetesses.png) Detail from *Miriam* by Edward John Poynter (1836 – 1919) # About **Course Description:** The spirit of God stands at the center of the biblical narrative. In the beginning, it hovered over the deep. When God breathed it into *adam*, s/he became a living soul. When the spirit descended upon the Israelites, they prophesized, played music, created sacred art, walked around naked, promulgated laws, "spoke in ecstasy" and a host of other things. In this course, we will explore the Israelite experience of the spirit of God with an eye to grounding our own spiritual lives in the biblical narrative. We will interpret the Tanakh in light of its historical context, and also through the eyes of the Midrash, Jewish Philosophy and Kabbalah. **Links to coursebook:** www.a-d-a-m.faith **PDF for download:** https://shorturl.at/iairB The course is taught by Shaiya Rothberg: [email protected] # Table of Contents - [[#1 Mikra|1 Mikra]] - [[#1 Mikra#1.1 Torah|1.1 Torah]] - [[#1.1 Torah#1.1.1 Breshit 1: The Spirit of God over the Waters|1.1.1 Breshit 1: The Spirit of God over the Waters]] - [[#1.1 Torah#1.1.2 Breshit 2: The Breath of Life|1.1.2 Breshit 2: The Breath of Life]] - [[#1.1 Torah#1.1.3 The Spirit of God on Joseph|1.1.3 The Spirit of God on Joseph]] - [[#1.1 Torah#1.1.4 *The Prophecy of Moses*|1.1.4 *The Prophecy of Moses*]] - [[#1.1 Torah#1.1.5 *The Sin of the Golden Calf*|1.1.5 *The Sin of the Golden Calf*]] - [[#1.1 Torah#1.1.6 Shmot 35: The Divine Spirit as Artist|1.1.6 Shmot 35: The Divine Spirit as Artist]] - [[#1.1 Torah#1.1.7 Bemidbar 11: May all Y-H-V-H's People be Prophets through the Spirit|1.1.7 Bemidbar 11: May all Y-H-V-H's People be Prophets through the Spirit]] - [[#1 Mikra#1.2 Neviim|1.2 Neviim]] - [[#1.2 Neviim#1.2.1 Shmuel 1:10: The Anointing of Shaul|1.2.1 Shmuel 1:10: The Anointing of Shaul]] - [[#1.2 Neviim#1.2.2 Shmuel 1:16: Divine and Evil Spirits from Y-H-V-H|1.2.2 Shmuel 1:16: Divine and Evil Spirits from Y-H-V-H]] - [[#1.2 Neviim#1.2.3 Shmuel 19: Shaul Speaks in Ecstasy in the Nude at Shmuel's Feet|1.2.3 Shmuel 19: Shaul Speaks in Ecstasy in the Nude at Shmuel's Feet]] - [[#1.2 Neviim#1.2.4 Melachim 1:22: God Sends False Spirit|1.2.4 Melachim 1:22: God Sends False Spirit]] - [[#1.2 Neviim#1.2.5 Yeshayahu 11: A Spirit of Wisdom and Insight|1.2.5 Yeshayahu 11: A Spirit of Wisdom and Insight]] - [[#1.2 Neviim#1.2.6 Joel 3: Everyone will Prophesy:|1.2.6 Joel 3: Everyone will Prophesy:]] - [[#1.2 Neviim#1.2.7 Yehezkel 35:24-36:14 - The Vision of Dry Bones|1.2.7 Yehezkel 35:24-36:14 - The Vision of Dry Bones]] - [[#1 Mikra#1.3 Ketuvim|1.3 Ketuvim]] - [[#1.3 Ketuvim#1.3.1 *Tehillim Mizmor 150: Every Breath for Yah*|1.3.1 *Tehillim Mizmor 150: Every Breath for Yah*]] - [[#1.3 Ketuvim#1.3.2 Iyov (Job) on the Spirit of God|1.3.2 Iyov (Job) on the Spirit of God]] - [[#1.3 Ketuvim#1.3.3 Kohelet 12:6-7|1.3.3 Kohelet 12:6-7]] - [[#1.3 Ketuvim#1.3.4 Divrei Hayamim 1:25 - Music as Prophecy|1.3.4 Divrei Hayamim 1:25 - Music as Prophecy]] - [[#2 Mefarshim (Commentaries)|2 Mefarshim (Commentaries)]] - [[#2 Mefarshim (Commentaries)#2.1 On The Spirit of God over the Waters (Breshit 1)|2.1 On The Spirit of God over the Waters (Breshit 1)]] - [[#2.1 On The Spirit of God over the Waters (Breshit 1)#2.1.1 Background from the Jewish Study Bible (Marc Zvi Brettler)|2.1.1 Background from the Jewish Study Bible (Marc Zvi Brettler)]] - [[#2.1 On The Spirit of God over the Waters (Breshit 1)#2.1.2 JPS Commentary (Nahum Sarna)|2.1.2 JPS Commentary (Nahum Sarna)]] - [[#2.1 On The Spirit of God over the Waters (Breshit 1)#2.1.3 Rashi|2.1.3 Rashi]] - [[#2.1 On The Spirit of God over the Waters (Breshit 1)#2.1.4 Sforno|2.1.4 Sforno]] - [[#2.1 On The Spirit of God over the Waters (Breshit 1)#2.1.5 Cassuto|2.1.5 Cassuto]] - [[#2.1 On The Spirit of God over the Waters (Breshit 1)#2.1.6 Further Notes on *Tohu and Bohu*|2.1.6 Further Notes on *Tohu and Bohu*]] - [[#2 Mefarshim (Commentaries)#2.2 On Breshit 2: The breath of Life|2.2 On Breshit 2: The breath of Life]] - [[#2.2 On Breshit 2: The breath of Life#2.2.1 Ramban|2.2.1 Ramban]] - [[#2.2 On Breshit 2: The breath of Life#2.2.2 Hizkuni|2.2.2 Hizkuni]] - [[#2 Mefarshim (Commentaries)#2.3 Jewish Study Bible's Introduction to Breshit (Jon D. Levenson)|2.3 Jewish Study Bible's Introduction to Breshit (Jon D. Levenson)]] - [[#2 Mefarshim (Commentaries)#2.4 JSP on Shmuel 1:10 The Anointing of Shaul (Shimon Bar-Efrat and Marc Zvi Brettler)|2.4 JSP on Shmuel 1:10 The Anointing of Shaul (Shimon Bar-Efrat and Marc Zvi Brettler)]] - [[#2 Mefarshim (Commentaries)#2.5 JSB on Divrei Hayamim 1:25|2.5 JSB on Divrei Hayamim 1:25]] - [[#3 Midrash|3 Midrash]] - [[#3 Midrash#3.1 Midrashim on Breshit 1: The Spirit of God over the Waters|3.1 Midrashim on Breshit 1: The Spirit of God over the Waters]] - [[#3.1 Midrashim on Breshit 1: The Spirit of God over the Waters#3.1.1 Breshit Rabba 2:4|3.1.1 Breshit Rabba 2:4]] - [[#3.1 Midrashim on Breshit 1: The Spirit of God over the Waters#3.1.2 Midrash Tanhumah Tazria 2|3.1.2 Midrash Tanhumah Tazria 2]] - [[#3.1 Midrashim on Breshit 1: The Spirit of God over the Waters#3.1.3 Midrash Tanhumah Noach 12:1|3.1.3 Midrash Tanhumah Noach 12:1]] - [[#3 Midrash#3.2 Breshit Rabba on Mizmor 150|3.2 Breshit Rabba on Mizmor 150]] - [[#4 Sefer Yetsirah|4 Sefer Yetsirah]] - [[#4 Sefer Yetsirah#4.1 Sefer Yetsirah (1:1-2:3)|4.1 Sefer Yetsirah (1:1-2:3)]] - [[#4 Sefer Yetsirah#4.2 Activation of the Spirit using Sefer Yetsirah|4.2 Activation of the Spirit using Sefer Yetsirah]] - [[#5 Rabbi Avraham Abulafia|5 Rabbi Avraham Abulafia]] - [[#5 Rabbi Avraham Abulafia#5.1 Abulafia on the Breath|5.1 Abulafia on the Breath]] - [[#5 Rabbi Avraham Abulafia#5.2 Abulafia on the Breath in Mizmor 150|5.2 Abulafia on the Breath in Mizmor 150]] - [[#5 Rabbi Avraham Abulafia#5.3 Prophecy and the Anointing Oil|5.3 Prophecy and the Anointing Oil]] - [[#5 Rabbi Avraham Abulafia#5.4 Kavanah for the Hazkarah|5.4 Kavanah for the Hazkarah]] - [[#6 Rambam|6 Rambam]] - [[#6 Rambam#6.1 The Guide 2:36 - On the Quiddity of Prophecy|6.1 The Guide 2:36 - On the Quiddity of Prophecy]] - [[#6 Rambam#6.2 The Guide 3:51 - The Nature and Purpose of Torah Practice|6.2 The Guide 3:51 - The Nature and Purpose of Torah Practice]] - [[#6 Rambam#6.3 The Guide 2:45 on the Spirit of God|6.3 The Guide 2:45 on the Spirit of God]] - [[#7 Additional Sources|7 Additional Sources]] - [[#7 Additional Sources#7.1 Jewish Study Bible on The Phenomenon of Prophecy|7.1 Jewish Study Bible on The Phenomenon of Prophecy]] - [[#7 Additional Sources#7.2 Claude AI on Creation|7.2 Claude AI on Creation]] - [[#7 Additional Sources#7.3 Selections from Aryeh Kaplan, *Meditation and the Bible*, on Prophetic Practices|7.3 Selections from Aryeh Kaplan, *Meditation and the Bible*, on Prophetic Practices]] - [[#7 Additional Sources#7.4 Visualizing Creation|7.4 Visualizing Creation]] - [[#8 Practices for Inviting Ruach Elohim|8 Practices for Inviting Ruach Elohim]] - [[#9 States of Mind/Consciousness of Ruach Elohim|9 States of Mind/Consciousness of Ruach Elohim]] - [[#10 Notes on Editions and Translations|10 Notes on Editions and Translations]] - [[#11 Seder Limmud / Order of Study|11 Seder Limmud / Order of Study]] - [[#11 Seder Limmud / Order of Study#11.1 Initial Exploration of the Spirit of God|11.1 Initial Exploration of the Spirit of God]] - [[#11 Seder Limmud / Order of Study#11.2 The Spirit of God hovers over the Waters|11.2 The Spirit of God hovers over the Waters]] - [[#11 Seder Limmud / Order of Study#11.3 The Breath of Life|11.3 The Breath of Life]] - [[#11 Seder Limmud / Order of Study#11.4 The Rambam's Conception of the Spirit of God|11.4 The Rambam's Conception of the Spirit of God]] - [[#11 Seder Limmud / Order of Study#11.5 The Spirit of God in Sefer Yetsirah|11.5 The Spirit of God in Sefer Yetsirah]] - [[#11 Seder Limmud / Order of Study#11.6 Envisioning Creation as the Telos of the Divine Spirit|11.6 Envisioning Creation as the Telos of the Divine Spirit]] - [[#11 Seder Limmud / Order of Study#11.7 The Phenomenon of Prophecy|11.7 The Phenomenon of Prophecy]] - [[#11 Seder Limmud / Order of Study#11.8 Speaking in Ecstasy and the Children of the Prophets|11.8 Speaking in Ecstasy and the Children of the Prophets]] - [[#11 Seder Limmud / Order of Study#11.9 Hitbodedut: Letting go of Individuality|11.9 Hitbodedut: Letting go of Individuality]] - [[#11 Seder Limmud / Order of Study#11.10 An Evil Spirit from before God|11.10 An Evil Spirit from before God]] - [[#11 Seder Limmud / Order of Study#11.11 Prophecy and Dehumanization: Yehoshua|11.11 Prophecy and Dehumanization: Yehoshua]] - [[#11 Seder Limmud / Order of Study#11.12 Prophecy against Power: Yeshayahu|11.12 Prophecy against Power: Yeshayahu]] - [[#11 Seder Limmud / Order of Study#11.13 Visions of Redemption through the Spirit|11.13 Visions of Redemption through the Spirit]] --- --- --- --- ## 1 Mikra ### 1.1 Torah #### 1.1.1 Breshit 1: The Spirit of God over the Waters | Breshit 1:1-3 | בראשית א:א-ג | | :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | When God began to create heaven and earth—the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water—God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. | בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם **וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃** וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים יְהִ֣י א֑וֹר וַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר׃ | #### 1.1.2 Breshit 2: The Breath of Life | Breshit 2:7 | בראשית ב:ז | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | God יהו-ה formed the Human from the soil’s humus, blowing into hir nostrils the breath of life: the Human became a living being. | וַיִּ֩יצֶר֩ יְהֹוָ֨ה אֱלֹהִ֜ים אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֗ם עָפָר֙ מִן־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה וַיִּפַּ֥ח בְּאַפָּ֖יו נִשְׁמַ֣ת חַיִּ֑ים וַיְהִ֥י הָֽאָדָ֖ם לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ חַיָּֽה׃ | #### 1.1.3 The Spirit of God on Joseph **Breshit 41:38** וַיֹּ֥אמֶר פַּרְעֹ֖ה אֶל־עֲבָדָ֑יו הֲנִמְצָ֣א כָזֶ֔ה אִ֕ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֛ר ר֥וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֖ים בּֽוֹ׃ And Pharaoh said to his courtiers, “Could we find another like him—a man with the divine spirit?” #### 1.1.4 *The Prophecy of Moses* **Bemidbar 12:1-9** יב (א) וַתְּדַבֵּ֨ר מִרְיָ֤ם וְאַהֲרֹן֙ בְּמֹשֶׁ֔ה עַל־אֹד֛וֹת הָאִשָּׁ֥ה הַכֻּשִׁ֖ית אֲשֶׁ֣ר לָקָ֑ח כִּֽי־אִשָּׁ֥ה כֻשִׁ֖ית לָקָֽח׃ (ב) וַיֹּאמְר֗וּ הֲרַ֤ק אַךְ־בְּמֹשֶׁה֙ דִּבֶּ֣ר יהוה הֲלֹ֖א גַּם־בָּ֣נוּ דִבֵּ֑ר וַיִּשְׁמַ֖ע יהוה׃ (ג) וְהָאִ֥ישׁ מֹשֶׁ֖ה עָנָ֣ו מְאֹ֑ד מִכֹּל֙ הָֽאָדָ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הָאֲדָמָֽה׃ {ס} (ד) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יהוה פִּתְאֹ֗ם אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֤ה וְאֶֽל־אַהֲרֹן֙ וְאֶל־מִרְיָ֔ם צְא֥וּ שְׁלׇשְׁתְּכֶ֖ם אֶל־אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֑ד וַיֵּצְא֖וּ שְׁלׇשְׁתָּֽם׃ (ה) וַיֵּ֤רֶד יהוה בְּעַמּ֣וּד עָנָ֔ן וַֽיַּעֲמֹ֖ד פֶּ֣תַח הָאֹ֑הֶל וַיִּקְרָא֙ אַהֲרֹ֣ן וּמִרְיָ֔ם וַיֵּצְא֖וּ שְׁנֵיהֶֽם׃ (ו) וַיֹּ֖אמֶר שִׁמְעוּ־נָ֣א דְבָרָ֑י אִם־יִֽהְיֶה֙ נְבִ֣יאֲכֶ֔ם יהוה בַּמַּרְאָה֙ אֵלָ֣יו אֶתְוַדָּ֔ע בַּחֲל֖וֹם אֲדַבֶּר־בּֽוֹ׃ (ז) לֹא־כֵ֖ן עַבְדִּ֣י מֹשֶׁ֑ה בְּכׇל־בֵּיתִ֖י נֶאֱמָ֥ן הֽוּא׃ (ח) פֶּ֣ה אֶל־פֶּ֞ה אֲדַבֶּר־בּ֗וֹ וּמַרְאֶה֙ וְלֹ֣א בְחִידֹ֔ת וּתְמֻנַ֥ת יהוה יַבִּ֑יט וּמַדּ֙וּעַ֙ לֹ֣א יְרֵאתֶ֔ם לְדַבֵּ֖ר בְּעַבְדִּ֥י בְמֹשֶֽׁה׃ (ט) וַיִּֽחַר־אַ֧ף יהוה בָּ֖ם וַיֵּלַֽךְ׃ (1) Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had taken [into his household as his wife] : “He took a Cushite woman!” (2) They said, “Has יהוה spoken only through Moses? Has [God] not spoken through us as well?” יהוה heard it. (3) Now Moses himself was very humble, more so than any other human being on earth. (4) Suddenly יהוה called to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the Tent of Meeting.” So the three of them went out. (5) יהוה came down in a pillar of cloud, stopped at the entrance of the Tent, and called out, “Aaron and Miriam!” The two of them came forward; (6) and [God] said, “Hear these My words: When prophets of יהוה arise among you, I make Myself known to them in a vision, I speak with them in a dream. (7) Not so with My servant Moses; he is trusted throughout My household. (8) With him I speak mouth to mouth, plainly and not in riddles, and he beholds the likeness of יהוה. How then did you not shrink from speaking against My servant Moses!” (9) Still incensed with them, יהוה departed. #### 1.1.5 *The Sin of the Golden Calf* **Exodus 32:7-14** לב (ז) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יהוה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה לֶךְ־רֵ֕ד כִּ֚י שִׁחֵ֣ת עַמְּךָ֔ אֲשֶׁ֥ר הֶעֱלֵ֖יתָ מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃ (ח) סָ֣רוּ מַהֵ֗ר מִן־הַדֶּ֙רֶךְ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר צִוִּיתִ֔ם עָשׂ֣וּ לָהֶ֔ם עֵ֖גֶל מַסֵּכָ֑ה וַיִּשְׁתַּֽחֲווּ־לוֹ֙ וַיִּזְבְּחוּ־ל֔וֹ וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ אֵ֤לֶּה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר הֶֽעֱל֖וּךָ מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃ (ט) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר יהוה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה רָאִ֙יתִי֙ אֶת־הָעָ֣ם הַזֶּ֔ה וְהִנֵּ֥ה עַם־קְשֵׁה־עֹ֖רֶף הֽוּא׃ (י) וְעַתָּה֙ הַנִּ֣יחָה לִּ֔י וְיִֽחַר־אַפִּ֥י בָהֶ֖ם וַאֲכַלֵּ֑ם וְאֶֽעֱשֶׂ֥ה אוֹתְךָ֖ לְג֥וֹי גָּדֽוֹל׃ (יא) וַיְחַ֣ל מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֶת־פְּנֵ֖י יהוה אֱלֹהָ֑יו וַיֹּ֗אמֶר לָמָ֤ה יהוה יֶחֱרֶ֤ה אַפְּךָ֙ בְּעַמֶּ֔ךָ אֲשֶׁ֤ר הוֹצֵ֙אתָ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם בְּכֹ֥חַ גָּד֖וֹל וּבְיָ֥ד חֲזָקָֽה׃ (יב) לָ֩מָּה֩ יֹאמְר֨וּ מִצְרַ֜יִם לֵאמֹ֗ר בְּרָעָ֤ה הֽוֹצִיאָם֙ לַהֲרֹ֤ג אֹתָם֙ בֶּֽהָרִ֔ים וּ֨לְכַלֹּתָ֔ם מֵעַ֖ל פְּנֵ֣י הָֽאֲדָמָ֑ה שׁ֚וּב מֵחֲר֣וֹן אַפֶּ֔ךָ וְהִנָּחֵ֥ם עַל־הָרָעָ֖ה לְעַמֶּֽךָ׃ (יג) זְכֹ֡ר לְאַבְרָהָם֩ לְיִצְחָ֨ק וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל עֲבָדֶ֗יךָ אֲשֶׁ֨ר נִשְׁבַּ֣עְתָּ לָהֶם֮ בָּךְ֒ וַתְּדַבֵּ֣ר אֲלֵהֶ֔ם אַרְבֶּה֙ אֶֽת־זַרְעֲכֶ֔ם כְּכוֹכְבֵ֖י הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם וְכׇל־הָאָ֨רֶץ הַזֹּ֜את אֲשֶׁ֣ר אָמַ֗רְתִּי אֶתֵּן֙ לְזַרְעֲכֶ֔ם וְנָחֲל֖וּ לְעֹלָֽם׃ (יד) וַיִּנָּ֖חֶם יהוה עַל־הָ֣רָעָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר דִּבֶּ֖ר לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת לְעַמּֽוֹ׃ {פ} (7) YHVH spoke to Moses, “Hurry down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have acted basely. (8) They have been quick to turn aside from the way that I enjoined upon them. They have made themselves a molten calf and bowed low to it and sacrificed to it, saying: ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’” (9) יהוה further said to Moses, “I see that this is a stiffnecked people. (10) Now, let Me be, that My anger may blaze forth against them and that I may destroy them, and make of you a great nation.” (11) But Moses implored his God יהוה, saying, “Let not Your anger, יהוה, blaze forth against Your people, whom You delivered from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand. (12) Let not the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he delivered them, only to kill them off in the mountains and annihilate them from the face of the earth.’ Turn from Your blazing anger, and renounce the plan to punish Your people. (13) Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, how You swore to them by Your Self and said to them: I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, and I will give to your offspring this whole land of which I spoke, to possess forever.” (14) And יהוה renounced the punishment [רעה / evil] God planned for God’s people. #### 1.1.6 Shmot 35: The Divine Spirit as Artist **שמות לה:ל - לו:ז** לה (ל) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל רְא֛וּ קָרָ֥א יְהֹוָ֖ה בְּשֵׁ֑ם בְּצַלְאֵ֛ל בֶּן־אוּרִ֥י בֶן־ח֖וּר לְמַטֵּ֥ה יְהוּדָֽה׃ (לא) וַיְמַלֵּ֥א אֹת֖וֹ ר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֑ים בְּחׇכְמָ֛ה בִּתְבוּנָ֥ה וּבְדַ֖עַת וּבְכׇל־מְלָאכָֽה׃ (לב) וְלַחְשֹׁ֖ב מַֽחֲשָׁבֹ֑ת לַעֲשֹׂ֛ת בַּזָּהָ֥ב וּבַכֶּ֖סֶף וּבַנְּחֹֽשֶׁת׃ (לג) וּבַחֲרֹ֥שֶׁת אֶ֛בֶן לְמַלֹּ֖את וּבַחֲרֹ֣שֶׁת עֵ֑ץ לַעֲשׂ֖וֹת בְּכׇל־מְלֶ֥אכֶת מַחֲשָֽׁבֶת׃ (לד) וּלְהוֹרֹ֖ת נָתַ֣ן בְּלִבּ֑וֹ ה֕וּא וְאׇֽהֳלִיאָ֥ב בֶּן־אֲחִיסָמָ֖ךְ לְמַטֵּה־דָֽן׃ (לה) מִלֵּ֨א אֹתָ֜ם חׇכְמַת־לֵ֗ב לַעֲשׂוֹת֮ כׇּל־מְלֶ֣אכֶת חָרָ֣שׁ ׀ וְחֹשֵׁב֒ וְרֹקֵ֞ם בַּתְּכֵ֣לֶת וּבָֽאַרְגָּמָ֗ן בְּתוֹלַ֧עַת הַשָּׁנִ֛י וּבַשֵּׁ֖שׁ וְאֹרֵ֑ג עֹשֵׂי֙ כׇּל־מְלָאכָ֔ה וְחֹשְׁבֵ֖י מַחֲשָׁבֹֽת׃ לו (א) וְעָשָׂה֩ בְצַלְאֵ֨ל וְאׇהֳלִיאָ֜ב וְכֹ֣ל ׀ אִ֣ישׁ חֲכַם־לֵ֗ב אֲשֶׁר֩ נָתַ֨ן יְהֹוָ֜ה חׇכְמָ֤ה וּתְבוּנָה֙ בָּהֵ֔מָּה לָדַ֣עַת לַעֲשֹׂ֔ת אֶֽת־כׇּל־מְלֶ֖אכֶת עֲבֹדַ֣ת הַקֹּ֑דֶשׁ לְכֹ֥ל אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּ֖ה יְהֹוָֽה׃ (ב) וַיִּקְרָ֣א מֹשֶׁ֗ה אֶל־בְּצַלְאֵל֮ וְאֶל־אׇֽהֳלִיאָב֒ וְאֶל֙ כׇּל־אִ֣ישׁ חֲכַם־לֵ֔ב אֲשֶׁ֨ר נָתַ֧ן יְהֹוָ֛ה חׇכְמָ֖ה בְּלִבּ֑וֹ כֹּ֚ל אֲשֶׁ֣ר נְשָׂא֣וֹ לִבּ֔וֹ לְקׇרְבָ֥ה אֶל־הַמְּלָאכָ֖ה לַעֲשֹׂ֥ת אֹתָֽהּ׃ (ג) וַיִּקְח֞וּ מִלִּפְנֵ֣י מֹשֶׁ֗ה אֵ֤ת כׇּל־הַתְּרוּמָה֙ אֲשֶׁ֨ר הֵבִ֜יאוּ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל לִמְלֶ֛אכֶת עֲבֹדַ֥ת הַקֹּ֖דֶשׁ לַעֲשֹׂ֣ת אֹתָ֑הּ וְ֠הֵ֠ם הֵבִ֨יאוּ אֵלָ֥יו ע֛וֹד נְדָבָ֖ה בַּבֹּ֥קֶר בַּבֹּֽקֶר׃ (ד) וַיָּבֹ֙אוּ֙ כׇּל־הַ֣חֲכָמִ֔ים הָעֹשִׂ֕ים אֵ֖ת כׇּל־מְלֶ֣אכֶת הַקֹּ֑דֶשׁ אִֽישׁ־אִ֥ישׁ מִמְּלַאכְתּ֖וֹ אֲשֶׁר־הֵ֥מָּה עֹשִֽׂים׃ (ה) וַיֹּאמְרוּ֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֣ה לֵּאמֹ֔ר מַרְבִּ֥ים הָעָ֖ם לְהָבִ֑יא מִדֵּ֤י הָֽעֲבֹדָה֙ לַמְּלָאכָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּ֥ה יְהֹוָ֖ה לַעֲשֹׂ֥ת אֹתָֽהּ׃ (ו) וַיְצַ֣ו מֹשֶׁ֗ה וַיַּעֲבִ֨ירוּ ק֥וֹל בַּֽמַּחֲנֶה֮ לֵאמֹר֒ אִ֣ישׁ וְאִשָּׁ֗ה אַל־יַעֲשׂוּ־ע֛וֹד מְלָאכָ֖ה לִתְרוּמַ֣ת הַקֹּ֑דֶשׁ וַיִּכָּלֵ֥א הָעָ֖ם מֵהָבִֽיא׃ (ז) וְהַמְּלָאכָ֗ה הָיְתָ֥ה דַיָּ֛ם לְכׇל־הַמְּלָאכָ֖ה לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת אֹתָ֑הּ וְהוֹתֵֽר׃ {ס} **Exodus 35:30-36:7** 35 (30) And Moses said to the Israelites: See, יהוה has singled out by name Bezalel, son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, (31) endowing him with a divine spirit of skill, ability, and knowledge in every kind of craft, (32) and inspiring him to make designs for work in gold, silver, and copper, (33) to cut stones for setting and to carve wood—to work in every kind of designer’s craft— (34) and to give directions. He and Oholiab son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan (35) have been endowed with the skill to do any work—of the carver, the designer, the embroiderer in blue, purple, crimson yarns, and in fine linen, and of the weaver—as workers in all crafts and as makers of designs. 36 (1) Let, then, Bezalel and Oholiab and all the skilled persons whom יהוה has endowed with skill and ability to perform expertly all the tasks connected with the service of the sanctuary carry out all that יהוה has commanded. (2) Moses then called Bezalel and Oholiab, and every skilled person whom יהוה had endowed with skill, everyone who excelled in ability, to undertake the task and carry it out. (3) They took over from Moses all the gifts that the Israelites had brought, to carry out the tasks connected with the service of the sanctuary. But when these continued to bring freewill offerings to him morning after morning, (4) all the artisans who were engaged in the tasks of the sanctuary came, from the task upon which each one was engaged, (5) and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than is needed for the tasks entailed in the work that יהוה has commanded to be done.” (6) Moses thereupon had this proclamation made throughout the camp: “Let no man or woman make further effort toward gifts for the sanctuary!” So the people stopped bringing: (7) their efforts had been more than enough for all the tasks to be done. #### 1.1.7 Bemidbar 11: May all Y-H-V-H's People be Prophets through the Spirit | Bemidbar 11:25-29 | במדבר יא:כה-כט | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Then, after coming down in a cloud and speaking to him, **Y-H-V-H drew upon the spirit that was on him and put it upon the seventy participating elders**. And when the spirit rested upon them, they spoke in ecstasy, but did not continue. Two of the participants, one named Eldad and the other Medad, had remained in camp; **yet the spirit rested upon them—they were among those recorded, but they had not gone out to the Tent—and they spoke in ecstasy in the camp.** An assistant ran out and told Moses, saying, “Eldad and Medad are acting the prophet in the camp!” And Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ attendant from his youth, spoke up and said, “My lord Moses, restrain them!” **But Moses said to him, “Are you wrought up on my account? Would that all יהוה’s people were prophets, that יהוה put [the divine] spirit upon them!”** | וַיֵּ֨רֶד יְהוָ֥ה ׀ בֶּעָנָן֮ וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר אֵלָיו֒ וַיָּ֗אצֶל מִן־הָר֙וּחַ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָלָ֔יו וַיִּתֵּ֕ן עַל־שִׁבְעִ֥ים אִ֖ישׁ הַזְּקֵנִ֑ים **וַיְהִ֗י כְּנ֤וֹחַ עֲלֵיהֶם֙ הָר֔וּחַ וַיִּֽתְנַבְּא֖וּ וְלֹ֥א יָסָֽפוּ׃** וַיִּשָּׁאֲר֣וּ שְׁנֵֽי־אֲנָשִׁ֣ים ׀ בַּֽמַּחֲנֶ֡ה שֵׁ֣ם הָאֶחָ֣ד ׀ אֶלְדָּ֡ד וְשֵׁם֩ הַשֵּׁנִ֨י מֵידָ֜ד **וַתָּ֧נַח עֲלֵיהֶ֣ם הָר֗וּחַ וְהֵ֙מָּה֙ בַּכְּתֻבִ֔ים וְלֹ֥א יָצְא֖וּ הָאֹ֑הֱלָה וַיִּֽתְנַבְּא֖וּ בַּֽמַּחֲנֶֽה׃** וַיָּ֣רָץ הַנַּ֔עַר וַיַּגֵּ֥ד לְמֹשֶׁ֖ה וַיֹּאמַ֑ר אֶלְדָּ֣ד וּמֵידָ֔ד מִֽתְנַבְּאִ֖ים בַּֽמַּחֲנֶֽה׃ וַיַּ֜עַן יְהוֹשֻׁ֣עַ בִּן־נ֗וּן מְשָׁרֵ֥ת מֹשֶׁ֛ה מִבְּחֻרָ֖יו וַיֹּאמַ֑ר אֲדֹנִ֥י מֹשֶׁ֖ה כְּלָאֵֽם׃ **וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לוֹ֙ מֹשֶׁ֔ה הַֽמְקַנֵּ֥א אַתָּ֖ה לִ֑י וּמִ֨י יִתֵּ֜ן כָּל־עַ֤ם יְהוָה֙ נְבִיאִ֔ים כִּי־יִתֵּ֧ן יְהוָ֛ה אֶת־רוּח֖וֹ עֲלֵיהֶֽם׃** | ### 1.2 Neviim #### 1.2.1 Shmuel 1:10: The Anointing of Shaul ![[Samuel 10 JPS 1985]] #### 1.2.2 Shmuel 1:16: Divine and Evil Spirits from Y-H-V-H **Shmuel 1:16:13-23** טו (יג) וַיִּקַּ֨ח שְׁמוּאֵ֜ל אֶת־קֶ֣רֶן הַשֶּׁ֗מֶן וַיִּמְשַׁ֣ח אֹתוֹ֮ בְּקֶ֣רֶב אֶחָיו֒ וַתִּצְלַ֤ח רֽוּחַ־יהו"ה אֶל־דָּוִ֔ד מֵהַיּ֥וֹם הַה֖וּא וָמָ֑עְלָה וַיָּ֣קׇם שְׁמוּאֵ֔ל וַיֵּ֖לֶךְ הָרָמָֽתָה׃ (יד) וְר֧וּחַ יהו"ה סָ֖רָה מֵעִ֣ם שָׁא֑וּל וּבִעֲתַ֥תּוּ רֽוּחַ־רָעָ֖ה מֵאֵ֥ת יהו"ה׃ (טו) וַיֹּאמְר֥וּ עַבְדֵֽי־שָׁא֖וּל אֵלָ֑יו הִנֵּה־נָ֧א רוּחַ־אֱלֹהִ֛ים רָעָ֖ה מְבַעִתֶּֽךָ׃ (טז) יֹֽאמַר־נָ֤א אֲדֹנֵ֙נוּ֙ עֲבָדֶ֣יךָ לְפָנֶ֔יךָ יְבַקְשׁ֕וּ אִ֕ישׁ יֹדֵ֖עַ מְנַגֵּ֣ן בַּכִּנּ֑וֹר וְהָיָ֗ה בִּֽהְי֨וֹת עָלֶ֤יךָ רֽוּחַ־אֱלֹהִים֙ רָעָ֔ה וְנִגֵּ֥ן בְּיָד֖וֹ וְט֥וֹב לָֽךְ׃ {פ} (יז) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר שָׁא֖וּל אֶל־עֲבָדָ֑יו רְאוּ־נָ֣א לִ֗י אִ֚ישׁ מֵיטִ֣יב לְנַגֵּ֔ן וַהֲבִיאוֹתֶ֖ם אֵלָֽי׃ (יח) וַיַּ֩עַן֩ אֶחָ֨ד מֵהַנְּעָרִ֜ים וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הִנֵּ֨ה רָאִ֜יתִי בֵּ֣ן לְיִשַׁי֮ בֵּ֣ית הַלַּחְמִי֒ יֹדֵ֣עַ נַ֠גֵּ֠ן וְגִבּ֨וֹר חַ֜יִל וְאִ֧ישׁ מִלְחָמָ֛ה וּנְב֥וֹן דָּבָ֖ר וְאִ֣ישׁ תֹּ֑אַר וַיהו"ה עִמּֽוֹ׃ (יט) וַיִּשְׁלַ֥ח שָׁא֛וּל מַלְאָכִ֖ים אֶל־יִשָׁ֑י וַיֹּ֕אמֶר שִׁלְחָ֥ה אֵלַ֛י אֶת־דָּוִ֥ד בִּנְךָ֖ אֲשֶׁ֥ר בַּצֹּֽאן׃ (כ) וַיִּקַּ֨ח יִשַׁ֜י חֲמ֥וֹר לֶ֙חֶם֙ וְנֹ֣אד יַ֔יִן וּגְדִ֥י עִזִּ֖ים אֶחָ֑ד וַיִּשְׁלַ֛ח בְּיַד־דָּוִ֥ד בְּנ֖וֹ אֶל־שָׁאֽוּל׃ (כא) וַיָּבֹ֤א דָוִד֙ אֶל־שָׁא֔וּל וַֽיַּעֲמֹ֖ד לְפָנָ֑יו וַיֶּאֱהָבֵ֣הֽוּ מְאֹ֔ד וַֽיְהִי־ל֖וֹ נֹשֵׂ֥א כֵלִֽים׃ (כב) וַיִּשְׁלַ֣ח שָׁא֔וּל אֶל־יִשַׁ֖י לֵאמֹ֑ר יַעֲמׇד־נָ֤א דָוִד֙ לְפָנַ֔י כִּי־מָ֥צָא חֵ֖ן בְּעֵינָֽי׃ (כג) וְהָיָ֗ה בִּֽהְי֤וֹת רֽוּחַ־אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶל־שָׁא֔וּל וְלָקַ֥ח דָּוִ֛ד אֶת־הַכִּנּ֖וֹר וְנִגֵּ֣ן בְּיָד֑וֹ וְרָוַ֤ח לְשָׁאוּל֙ וְט֣וֹב ל֔וֹ וְסָ֥רָה מֵעָלָ֖יו ר֥וּחַ הָרָעָֽה׃ {פ} (13) Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the LORD gripped David from that day on. Samuel then set out for Ramah. (14) Now the spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD began to terrify him. (15) Saul’s courtiers said to him, “An evil spirit of God is terrifying you. (16) Let our lord give the order [and] the courtiers in attendance on you will look for someone who is skilled at playing the lyre; whenever the evil spirit of God comes over you, he will play it and you will feel better.” (17) So Saul said to his courtiers, “Find me someone who can play well and bring him to me.” (18) One of the attendants spoke up, “I have observed a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skilled in music; he is a stalwart fellow and a warrior, sensible in speech, and handsome in appearance, and the LORD is with him.” (19) Whereupon Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, “Send me your son David, who is with the flock.” (20) Jesse took an ass [laden with] bread, a skin of wine, and a kid, and sent them to Saul by his son David. (21) So David came to Saul and entered his service; [Saul] took a strong liking to him and made him one of his arms-bearers. (22) Saul sent word to Jesse, “Let David remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.” (23) Whenever the [evil] spirit of God came upon Saul, David would take the lyre and play it; Saul would find relief and feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him. #### 1.2.3 Shmuel 19: Shaul Speaks in Ecstasy in the Nude at Shmuel's Feet ![[Samuel 1 19 JPS 1985]] #### 1.2.4 Melachim 1:22: God Sends False Spirit **I Kings 22:1-28** א:כב (א) וַיֵּשְׁב֖וּ שָׁלֹ֣שׁ שָׁנִ֑ים אֵ֚ין מִלְחָמָ֔ה בֵּ֥ין אֲרָ֖ם וּבֵ֥ין יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ {פ} (ב) וַיְהִ֖י בַּשָּׁנָ֣ה הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֑ית וַיֵּ֛רֶד יְהוֹשָׁפָ֥ט מֶלֶךְ־יְהוּדָ֖ה אֶל־מֶ֥לֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (ג) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר מֶֽלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ אֶל־עֲבָדָ֔יו הַיְדַעְתֶּ֕ם כִּי־לָ֖נוּ רָמֹ֣ת גִּלְעָ֑ד וַאֲנַ֣חְנוּ מַחְשִׁ֔ים מִקַּ֣חַת אֹתָ֔הּ מִיַּ֖ד מֶ֥לֶךְ אֲרָֽם׃ (ד) וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אֶל־יְה֣וֹשָׁפָ֔ט הֲתֵלֵ֥ךְ אִתִּ֛י לַמִּלְחָמָ֖ה רָמֹ֣ת גִּלְעָ֑ד וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֽוֹשָׁפָט֙ אֶל־מֶ֣לֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל כָּמ֧וֹנִי כָמ֛וֹךָ כְּעַמִּ֥י כְעַמֶּ֖ךָ כְּסוּסַ֥י כְּסוּסֶֽיךָ׃ (ה) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר יְהוֹשָׁפָ֖ט אֶל־מֶ֣לֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל דְּרׇשׁ־נָ֥א כַיּ֖וֹם אֶת־דְּבַ֥ר יהוה׃ (ו) וַיִּקְבֹּ֨ץ מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵ֥ל אֶֽת־הַנְּבִיאִים֮ כְּאַרְבַּ֣ע מֵא֣וֹת אִישׁ֒ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֗ם הַאֵלֵ֞ךְ עַל־רָמֹ֥ת גִּלְעָ֛ד לַמִּלְחָמָ֖ה אִם־אֶחְדָּ֑ל וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ עֲלֵ֔ה וְיִתֵּ֥ן אדני בְּיַ֥ד הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ (ז) וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ יְה֣וֹשָׁפָ֔ט הַאֵ֨ין פֹּ֥ה נָבִ֛יא לַֽיהוה ע֑וֹד וְנִדְרְשָׁ֖ה מֵאֹתֽוֹ׃ (ח) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵ֣ל ׀ אֶֽל־יְהוֹשָׁפָ֡ט ע֣וֹד אִישׁ־אֶחָ֡ד לִדְרֹשׁ֩ אֶת־יהוה מֵאֹת֜וֹ וַאֲנִ֣י שְׂנֵאתִ֗יו כִּ֠י לֹא־יִתְנַבֵּ֨א עָלַ֥י טוֹב֙ כִּ֣י אִם־רָ֔ע מִיכָ֖יְהוּ בֶּן־יִמְלָ֑ה וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ יְה֣וֹשָׁפָ֔ט אַל־יֹאמַ֥ר הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ כֵּֽן׃ (ט) וַיִּקְרָא֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֶל־סָרִ֖יס אֶחָ֑ד וַיֹּ֕אמֶר מַהֲרָ֖ה מִיכָ֥יְהוּ בֶן־יִמְלָֽה׃ (י) וּמֶ֣לֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵ֡ל וִיהוֹשָׁפָ֣ט מֶלֶךְ־יְהוּדָ֡ה יֹשְׁבִים֩ אִ֨ישׁ עַל־כִּסְא֜וֹ מְלֻבָּשִׁ֤ים בְּגָדִים֙ בְּגֹ֔רֶן פֶּ֖תַח שַׁ֣עַר שֹׁמְר֑וֹן וְכׇ֨ל־הַנְּבִיאִ֔ים מִֽתְנַבְּאִ֖ים לִפְנֵיהֶֽם׃ (יא) וַיַּ֥עַשׂ ל֛וֹ צִדְקִיָּ֥ה בֶֽן־כְּנַעֲנָ֖ה קַרְנֵ֣י בַרְזֶ֑ל וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ כֹּה־אָמַ֣ר יהוה בְּאֵ֛לֶּה תְּנַגַּ֥ח אֶת־אֲרָ֖ם עַד־כַּלֹּתָֽם׃ (יב) וְכׇ֨ל־הַנְּבִאִ֔ים נִבְּאִ֥ים כֵּ֖ן לֵאמֹ֑ר עֲלֵ֞ה רָמֹ֤ת גִּלְעָד֙ וְהַצְלַ֔ח וְנָתַ֥ן יהוה בְּיַ֥ד הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ (יג) וְהַמַּלְאָ֞ךְ אֲשֶׁר־הָלַ֣ךְ **׀** לִקְרֹ֣א מִיכָ֗יְהוּ דִּבֶּ֤ר אֵלָיו֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר הִנֵּה־נָ֞א דִּבְרֵ֧י הַנְּבִיאִ֛ים פֶּה־אֶחָ֥ד ט֖וֹב אֶל־הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ יְהִי־נָ֣א (דבריך) [דְבָרְךָ֗] כִּדְבַ֛ר אַחַ֥ד מֵהֶ֖ם וְדִבַּ֥רְתָּ טּֽוֹב׃ (יד) וַיֹּ֖אמֶר מִיכָ֑יְהוּ חַי־יהוה כִּ֠י אֶת־אֲשֶׁ֨ר יֹאמַ֧ר יהוה אֵלַ֖י אֹת֥וֹ אֲדַבֵּֽר׃ (טו) וַיָּבוֹא֮ אֶל־הַמֶּ֒לֶךְ֒ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ אֵלָ֗יו מִיכָ֙יְהוּ֙ הֲנֵלֵ֞ךְ אֶל־רָמֹ֥ת גִּלְעָ֛ד לַמִּלְחָמָ֖ה אִם־נֶחְדָּ֑ל וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֵלָיו֙ עֲלֵ֣ה וְהַצְלַ֔ח וְנָתַ֥ן יהוה בְּיַ֥ד הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ (טז) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֵלָיו֙ הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ עַד־כַּמֶּ֥ה פְעָמִ֖ים אֲנִ֣י מַשְׁבִּיעֶ֑ךָ אֲ֠שֶׁ֠ר לֹֽא־תְדַבֵּ֥ר אֵלַ֛י רַק־אֱמֶ֖ת בְּשֵׁ֥ם יהוה׃ (יז) וַיֹּ֗אמֶר רָאִ֤יתִי אֶת־כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ נְפֹצִ֣ים אֶל־הֶהָרִ֔ים כַּצֹּ֕אן אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֵין־לָהֶ֖ם רֹעֶ֑ה וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יהוה לֹֽא־אֲדֹנִ֣ים לָאֵ֔לֶּה יָשׁ֥וּבוּ אִישׁ־לְבֵית֖וֹ בְּשָׁלֽוֹם׃ (יח) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל אֶל־יְהוֹשָׁפָ֑ט הֲלוֹא֙ אָמַ֣רְתִּי אֵלֶ֔יךָ לוֹא־יִתְנַבֵּ֥א עָלַ֛י ט֖וֹב כִּ֥י אִם־רָֽע׃ {ס} (יט) וַיֹּ֕אמֶר לָכֵ֖ן שְׁמַ֣ע דְּבַר־יהוה רָאִ֤יתִי אֶת־יהוה יֹשֵׁ֣ב עַל־כִּסְא֔וֹ וְכׇל־צְבָ֤א הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙ עֹמֵ֣ד עָלָ֔יו מִֽימִינ֖וֹ וּמִשְּׂמֹאלֽוֹ׃ (כ) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יהוה מִ֤י יְפַתֶּה֙ אֶת־אַחְאָ֔ב וְיַ֕עַל וְיִפֹּ֖ל בְּרָמֹ֣ת גִּלְעָ֑ד וַיֹּ֤אמֶר זֶה֙ בְּכֹ֔ה וְזֶ֥ה אֹמֵ֖ר בְּכֹֽה׃ (כא) וַיֵּצֵ֣א הָר֗וּחַ וַֽיַּעֲמֹד֙ לִפְנֵ֣י יהוה וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אֲנִ֣י אֲפַתֶּ֑נּוּ וַיֹּ֧אמֶר יהוה אֵלָ֖יו בַּמָּֽה׃ (כב) וַיֹּ֗אמֶר אֵצֵא֙ וְהָיִ֙יתִי֙ ר֣וּחַ שֶׁ֔קֶר בְּפִ֖י כׇּל־נְבִיאָ֑יו וַיֹּ֗אמֶר תְּפַתֶּה֙ וְגַם־תּוּכָ֔ל צֵ֖א וַעֲשֵׂה־כֵֽן׃ (כג) וְעַתָּ֗ה הִנֵּ֨ה נָתַ֤ן יהוה ר֣וּחַ שֶׁ֔קֶר בְּפִ֖י כׇּל־נְבִיאֶ֣יךָ אֵ֑לֶּה וַֽיהוה דִּבֶּ֥ר עָלֶ֖יךָ רָעָֽה׃ (כד) וַיִּגַּשׁ֙ צִדְקִיָּ֣הוּ בֶֽן־כְּנַעֲנָ֔ה וַיַּכֶּ֥ה אֶת־מִיכָ֖יְהוּ עַל־הַלֶּ֑חִי וַיֹּ֕אמֶר אֵי־זֶ֨ה עָבַ֧ר רֽוּחַ־יהוה מֵאִתִּ֖י לְדַבֵּ֥ר אוֹתָֽךְ׃ (כה) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר מִיכָ֔יְהוּ הִנְּךָ֥ רֹאֶ֖ה בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֑וּא אֲשֶׁ֥ר תָּבֹ֛א חֶ֥דֶר בְּחֶ֖דֶר לְהֵחָבֵֽה׃ (כו) וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל קַ֚ח אֶת־מִיכָ֔יְהוּ וַהֲשִׁיבֵ֖הוּ אֶל־אָמֹ֣ן שַׂר־הָעִ֑יר וְאֶל־יוֹאָ֖שׁ בֶּן־הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ (כז) וְאָמַרְתָּ֗ כֹּ֚ה אָמַ֣ר הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ שִׂ֥ימוּ אֶת־זֶ֖ה בֵּ֣ית הַכֶּ֑לֶא וְהַאֲכִלֻ֜הוּ לֶ֤חֶם לַ֙חַץ֙ וּמַ֣יִם לַ֔חַץ עַ֖ד בֹּאִ֥י בְשָׁלֽוֹם׃ (כח) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר מִיכָ֔יְהוּ אִם־שׁ֤וֹב תָּשׁוּב֙ בְּשָׁל֔וֹם לֹא־דִבֶּ֥ר יהוה בִּ֑י וַיֹּ֕אמֶר שִׁמְע֖וּ עַמִּ֥ים כֻּלָּֽם׃ (1) There was a lull of three years, with no war between Aram and Israel. (2) In the third year, King Jehoshaphat of Judah came to visit the king of Israel. (3) The king of Israel said to his courtiers, “You know that Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, and yet we do nothing to recover it from the hands of the king of Aram.” (4) And he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you come with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?” Jehoshaphat answered the king of Israel, “I will do what you do; my troops shall be your troops, my horses shall be your horses.” (5) But Jehoshaphat said further to the king of Israel, “Please, first inquire of GOD.” (6) So the king of Israel gathered the prophets, about four hundred of them, and asked them, “Shall I march upon Ramoth-gilead for battle, or shall I not?” “March,” they said, “and the Sovereign will deliver it into Your Majesty’s hands.” (7) Then Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn’t there another prophet of GOD here through whom we can inquire?” (8) And the king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is one more through whom we can inquire of GOD; but I hate him, because he never prophesies anything good for me, but only misfortune—Micaiah son of Imlah.” But King Jehoshaphat said, “Don’t say that, Your Majesty.” (9) So the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once.” (10) The king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were seated on their thrones, arrayed in their robes, on the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them. (11) Zedekiah son of Chenaanah had provided himself with iron horns; and he said, “Thus said GOD: With these you shall gore the Arameans till you make an end of them.” (12) And all the other prophets were prophesying similarly, “March upon Ramoth-gilead and triumph! GOD will deliver it into Your Majesty’s hands.” (13) The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him: “Look, the words of the prophets are with one accord favorable to the king. Let your word be like that of the rest of them; speak a favorable word.” (14) “As GOD lives,” Micaiah answered, “I will speak only what GOD tells me.” (15) When he came before the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we march upon Ramoth-gilead for battle, or shall we not?” He answered him, “March and triumph! GOD will deliver [it] into Your Majesty’s hands.” (16) The king said to him, “How many times must I adjure you to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of GOD?” (17) Then he said, “I saw all Israel scattered over the hills like sheep without a shepherd; and GOD said, ‘These have no master; let everyone return home in safety.’” (18) “Didn’t I tell you,” said the king of Israel to Jehoshaphat, “that he would not prophesy good fortune for me, but only misfortune?” (19) But [Micaiah] said, “I call upon you to hear the word of GOD! I saw GOD seated upon a throne, with all the host of heaven standing in attendance to the right and to the left. (20) GOD asked, ‘Who will entice Ahab so that he will march and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ Then one said thus and another said thus, (21) until a certain spirit came forward and stood before GOD and said, ‘I will entice him.’ ‘How?’ GOD asked him. (22) And he replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then [God] said, ‘You will entice and you will prevail. Go out and do it.’ (23) So GOD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours; for GOD has decreed disaster upon you.” (24) Thereupon Zedekiah son of Chenaanah stepped up and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and demanded, “Which way did the spirit of GOD pass from me to speak with you?” (25) And Micaiah replied, “You’ll find out on the day when you try to hide in the innermost room.” (26) Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and turn him over to Amon, the city’s governor, and to Prince Joash, (27) and say, ‘The king’s orders are: Put this fellow in prison, and let his fare be scant bread and scant water until I come home safe.’” (28) To which Micaiah retorted, “If you ever come home safe, GOD has not spoken through me.” He said further, “Listen, all you peoples!” #### 1.2.5 Yeshayahu 11: A Spirit of Wisdom and Insight **Yeshayahu 11:1-9** (א) וְיָצָ֥א חֹ֖טֶר מִגֵּ֣זַע יִשָׁ֑י וְנֵ֖צֶר מִשׇּׁרָשָׁ֥יו יִפְרֶֽה׃ **(ב) וְנָחָ֥ה עָלָ֖יו ר֣וּחַ יהוה ר֧וּחַ חׇכְמָ֣ה וּבִינָ֗ה ר֤וּחַ עֵצָה֙ וּגְבוּרָ֔ה ר֥וּחַ דַּ֖עַת וְיִרְאַ֥ת יהוה׃** (ג) וַהֲרִיח֖וֹ בְּיִרְאַ֣ת יהוה וְלֹֽא־לְמַרְאֵ֤ה עֵינָיו֙ יִשְׁפּ֔וֹט וְלֹא־לְמִשְׁמַ֥ע אׇזְנָ֖יו יוֹכִֽיחַ׃ (ד) וְשָׁפַ֤ט בְּצֶ֙דֶק֙ דַּלִּ֔ים וְהוֹכִ֥יחַ בְּמִישׁ֖וֹר לְעַנְוֵי־אָ֑רֶץ וְהִֽכָּה־אֶ֙רֶץ֙ בְּשֵׁ֣בֶט פִּ֔יו וּבְר֥וּחַ שְׂפָתָ֖יו יָמִ֥ית רָשָֽׁע׃ (ה) וְהָ֥יָה צֶ֖דֶק אֵז֣וֹר מׇתְנָ֑יו וְהָאֱמוּנָ֖ה אֵז֥וֹר חֲלָצָֽיו׃ (ו) וְגָ֤ר זְאֵב֙ עִם־כֶּ֔בֶשׂ וְנָמֵ֖ר עִם־גְּדִ֣י יִרְבָּ֑ץ וְעֵ֨גֶל וּכְפִ֤יר וּמְרִיא֙ יַחְדָּ֔ו וְנַ֥עַר קָטֹ֖ן נֹהֵ֥ג בָּֽם׃ (ז) וּפָרָ֤ה וָדֹב֙ תִּרְעֶ֔ינָה יַחְדָּ֖ו יִרְבְּצ֣וּ יַלְדֵיהֶ֑ן וְאַרְיֵ֖ה כַּבָּקָ֥ר יֹאכַל־תֶּֽבֶן׃ (ח) וְשִֽׁעֲשַׁ֥ע יוֹנֵ֖ק עַל־חֻ֣ר פָּ֑תֶן וְעַל֙ מְאוּרַ֣ת צִפְעוֹנִ֔י גָּמ֖וּל יָד֥וֹ הָדָֽה׃ (ט) לֹא־יָרֵ֥עוּ וְלֹֽא־יַשְׁחִ֖יתוּ בְּכׇל־הַ֣ר קׇדְשִׁ֑י כִּֽי־מָלְאָ֣ה הָאָ֗רֶץ דֵּעָה֙ אֶת־יהוה כַּמַּ֖יִם לַיָּ֥ם מְכַסִּֽים׃ (1) But a shoot shall grow out of the stump of Jesse, A twig shall sprout from his stock. (2) The spirit of GOD shall alight upon him: A spirit of wisdom and insight, A spirit of counsel and valor, A spirit of devotion and reverence for GOD. (3) He shall sense the truth by his reverence for GOD: He shall not judge by what his eyes behold, Nor decide by what his ears perceive. (4) Thus he shall judge the poor with equity And decide with justice for the lowly of the land. He shall strike down a land with the rod of his mouth And slay the wicked with the breath of his lips. (5) Justice shall be the girdle of his loins, And faithfulness the girdle of his waist. (6) The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard lie down with the kid; The calf, the beast of prey, and the fatling together, With a little child to herd them. (7) The cow and the bear shall graze, Their young shall lie down together; And the lion, like the ox, shall eat straw. (8) A babe shall play Over a viper’s hole, And an infant pass its hand Over an adder’s den. (9) In all of My sacred mount Nothing evil or vile shall be done; For the land shall be filled with devotion to GOD As water covers the sea. *Alternative translation of 11:9*: They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be filled with the consciousness of God as the waters fill the seas. #### 1.2.6 Joel 3: Everyone will Prophesy: **Yoel 3:1** וְהָיָ֣ה אַחֲרֵי־כֵ֗ן אֶשְׁפּ֤וֹךְ אֶת־רוּחִי֙ עַל־כׇּל־בָּשָׂ֔ר וְנִבְּא֖וּ בְּנֵיכֶ֣ם וּבְנוֹתֵיכֶ֑ם זִקְנֵיכֶם֙ חֲלֹמ֣וֹת יַחֲלֹמ֔וּן בַּח֣וּרֵיכֶ֔ם חֶזְיֹנ֖וֹת יִרְאֽוּ׃ וְגַ֥ם עַל־הָעֲבָדִ֖ים וְעַל־הַשְּׁפָח֑וֹת בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵ֔מָּה אֶשְׁפּ֖וֹךְ אֶת־רוּחִֽי׃ After that, I will pour out My spirit on all flesh; Your sons and daughters shall prophesy; Your elders shall dream dreams, And your youths shall see visions. I will even pour out My spirit Upon male and female slaves in those days. *See above: B'midbar 11: May all YHVH's People Prophesy* #### 1.2.7 Yehezkel 35:24-36:14 - The Vision of Dry Bones לו (כד) וְלָקַחְתִּ֤י אֶתְכֶם֙ מִן־הַגּוֹיִ֔ם וְקִבַּצְתִּ֥י אֶתְכֶ֖ם מִכׇּל־הָאֲרָצ֑וֹת וְהֵבֵאתִ֥י אֶתְכֶ֖ם אֶל־אַדְמַתְכֶֽם׃ (כה) וְזָרַקְתִּ֧י עֲלֵיכֶ֛ם מַ֥יִם טְהוֹרִ֖ים וּטְהַרְתֶּ֑ם מִכֹּ֧ל טֻמְאוֹתֵיכֶ֛ם וּמִכׇּל־גִּלּ֥וּלֵיכֶ֖ם אֲטַהֵ֥ר אֶתְכֶֽם׃ **(כו) וְנָתַתִּ֤י לָכֶם֙ לֵ֣ב חָדָ֔שׁ וְר֥וּחַ חֲדָשָׁ֖ה אֶתֵּ֣ן בְּקִרְבְּכֶ֑ם וַהֲסִ֨רֹתִ֜י אֶת־לֵ֤ב הָאֶ֙בֶן֙ מִבְּשַׂרְכֶ֔ם וְנָתַתִּ֥י לָכֶ֖ם לֵ֥ב בָּשָֽׂר׃ (כז) וְאֶת־רוּחִ֖י אֶתֵּ֣ן בְּקִרְבְּכֶ֑ם** וְעָשִׂ֗יתִי אֵ֤ת אֲשֶׁר־בְּחֻקַּי֙ תֵּלֵ֔כוּ וּמִשְׁפָּטַ֥י תִּשְׁמְר֖וּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶֽם׃ (כח) וִישַׁבְתֶּ֣ם בָּאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר נָתַ֖תִּי לַאֲבֹֽתֵיכֶ֑ם וִהְיִ֤יתֶם לִי֙ לְעָ֔ם וְאָ֣נֹכִ֔י אֶהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶ֖ם לֵאלֹהִֽים׃ ל**ז (א) הָיְתָ֣ה עָלַי֮ יַד־יהוה וַיּוֹצִאֵ֤נִֽי בְר֙וּחַ֙ יהוה וַיְנִיחֵ֖נִי בְּת֣וֹךְ הַבִּקְעָ֑ה וְהִ֖יא מְלֵאָ֥ה עֲצָמֽוֹת׃** (ב) וְהֶעֱבִירַ֥נִי עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם סָבִ֣יב ׀ סָבִ֑יב וְהִנֵּ֨ה רַבּ֤וֹת מְאֹד֙ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י הַבִּקְעָ֔ה וְהִנֵּ֖ה יְבֵשׁ֥וֹת מְאֹֽד׃ (ג) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֔י בֶּן־אָדָ֕ם הֲתִֽחְיֶ֖ינָה הָעֲצָמ֣וֹת הָאֵ֑לֶּה וָאֹמַ֕ר אדני יהוה אַתָּ֥ה יָדָֽעְתָּ׃ (ד) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֔י הִנָּבֵ֖א עַל־הָעֲצָמ֣וֹת הָאֵ֑לֶּה וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵיהֶ֔ם הָֽעֲצָמוֹת֙ הַיְבֵשׁ֔וֹת שִׁמְע֖וּ דְּבַר־יהוה׃ **(ה) כֹּ֤ה אָמַר֙ אדני יהוה לָעֲצָמ֖וֹת הָאֵ֑לֶּה הִנֵּ֨ה אֲנִ֜י מֵבִ֥יא בָכֶ֛ם ר֖וּחַ וִחְיִיתֶֽם׃** (ו) וְנָתַתִּי֩ עֲלֵיכֶ֨ם גִּידִ֜ים וְֽהַעֲלֵתִ֧י עֲלֵיכֶ֣ם בָּשָׂ֗ר וְקָרַמְתִּ֤י עֲלֵיכֶם֙ ע֔וֹר **וְנָתַתִּ֥י בָכֶ֛ם ר֖וּחַ וִחְיִיתֶ֑ם וִידַעְתֶּ֖ם כִּֽי־אֲנִ֥י יהוה׃** (ז) וְנִבֵּ֖אתִי כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר צֻוֵּ֑יתִי וַֽיְהִי־ק֤וֹל כְּהִנָּֽבְאִי֙ וְהִנֵּה־רַ֔עַשׁ וַתִּקְרְב֣וּ עֲצָמ֔וֹת עֶ֖צֶם אֶל־עַצְמֽוֹ׃ (ח) וְרָאִ֜יתִי וְהִנֵּֽה־עֲלֵיהֶ֤ם גִּדִים֙ וּבָשָׂ֣ר עָלָ֔ה וַיִּקְרַ֧ם עֲלֵיהֶ֛ם ע֖וֹר מִלְמָ֑עְלָה וְר֖וּחַ אֵ֥ין בָּהֶֽם׃ **(ט) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֔י הִנָּבֵ֖א אֶל־הָר֑וּחַ הִנָּבֵ֣א בֶן־אָ֠דָ֠ם וְאָמַרְתָּ֨ אֶל־הָר֜וּחַ {ס} כֹּה־אָמַ֣ר ׀ אדני יהוה מֵאַרְבַּ֤ע רוּחוֹת֙ בֹּ֣אִי הָר֔וּחַ וּפְחִ֛י בַּהֲרוּגִ֥ים הָאֵ֖לֶּה וְיִֽחְיֽוּ׃ (י) וְהִנַּבֵּ֖אתִי כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר צִוָּ֑נִי וַתָּבוֹא֩ בָהֶ֨ם הָר֜וּחַ וַיִּֽחְי֗וּ וַיַּֽעַמְדוּ֙ עַל־רַגְלֵיהֶ֔ם חַ֖יִל גָּד֥וֹל מְאֹד־מְאֹֽד׃** (יא) וַיֹּ֘אמֶר֮ אֵלַי֒ בֶּן־אָדָ֕ם הָעֲצָמ֣וֹת הָאֵ֔לֶּה כׇּל־בֵּ֥ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל הֵ֑מָּה הִנֵּ֣ה אֹמְרִ֗ים יָבְשׁ֧וּ עַצְמוֹתֵ֛ינוּ וְאָבְדָ֥ה תִקְוָתֵ֖נוּ נִגְזַ֥רְנוּ לָֽנוּ׃ (יב) לָכֵן֩ הִנָּבֵ֨א וְאָמַרְתָּ֜ אֲלֵיהֶ֗ם כֹּה־אָמַר֮ אדני יהוה הִנֵּה֩ אֲנִ֨י פֹתֵ֜חַ אֶת־קִבְרֽוֹתֵיכֶ֗ם וְהַעֲלֵיתִ֥י אֶתְכֶ֛ם מִקִּבְרוֹתֵיכֶ֖ם עַמִּ֑י וְהֵבֵאתִ֥י אֶתְכֶ֖ם אֶל־אַדְמַ֥ת יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (יג) וִידַעְתֶּ֖ם כִּֽי־אֲנִ֣י יהוה בְּפִתְחִ֣י אֶת־קִבְרֽוֹתֵיכֶ֗ם וּבְהַעֲלוֹתִ֥י אֶתְכֶ֛ם מִקִּבְרוֹתֵיכֶ֖ם עַמִּֽי׃ (יד) **וְנָתַתִּ֨י רוּחִ֤י בָכֶם֙ וִחְיִיתֶ֔ם וְהִנַּחְתִּ֥י אֶתְכֶ֖ם עַל־אַדְמַתְכֶ֑ם וִידַעְתֶּ֞ם כִּֽי־אֲנִ֧י יהוה דִּבַּ֥רְתִּי וְעָשִׂ֖יתִי נְאֻם־יהוה׃ {פ}** 36 (24) I will take you from among the nations and gather you from all the countries, and I will bring you back to your own land. (25) I will sprinkle pure water upon you, and you shall be purified: I will purify you from all your defilement and from all your fetishes. **(26) And I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit into you: I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh; (27) and I will put My spirit into you.** Thus I will cause you to follow My laws and faithfully to observe My rules. (28) Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your ancestors, and you shall be My people and I will be your God. (29) And when I have delivered you from all your impurity, I will summon the grain and make it abundant, and I will not bring famine upon you. (30) I will make the fruit of your trees and the crops of your fields abundant, so that you shall never again be humiliated before the nations because of famine. (31) Then you shall recall your evil ways and your base conduct, and you shall loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abhorrent practices. (32) Not for your sake will I act—declares the Sovereign GOD—take good note! Be ashamed and humiliated because of your ways, O House of Israel! (33) Thus said the Sovereign GOD: When I have purified you of all your iniquities, I will people your settlements, and the ruined places shall be rebuilt; (34) and the desolate land, after lying waste in the sight of every passerby, shall again be tilled. (35) And it shall be said, “That land, once desolate, has become like the garden of Eden; and the cities, once ruined, desolate, and ravaged, are now populated and fortified.” (36) And the nations that are left around you shall know that I, GOD, have rebuilt the ravaged places and replanted the desolate land. I, GOD, have spoken and will act. (37) Thus said the Sovereign GOD: Moreover, in this I will respond to the House of Israel and act for their sake: I will multiply their people like sheep. (38) As Jerusalem is filled with sacrificial sheep during her festivals, so shall the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. And they shall know that I am GOD. **37 (1) GOD’s hand came upon me. I was taken out by the spirit of GOD and set down in the valley. It was full of bones.** (2) [God] led me all around them; there were very many of them spread over the valley, and they were very dry. (3) I was asked, “O mortal, can these bones live again?” I replied, “O my Sovereign GOD, only You know.” (4) And I was told, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of GOD! (5) Thus said the Sovereign GOD to these bones: **I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live again**. (6) I will lay sinews upon you, and cover you with flesh, and form skin over you. **And I will put breath into you, and you shall live again**. And you shall know that I am GOD!” (7) I prophesied as I had been commanded. And while I was prophesying, suddenly there was a sound of rattling, and the bones came together, bone to matching bone. (8) I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had grown, and skin had formed over them; **but there was no breath in them. (9) Then [God] said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, O mortal! Say to the breath: Thus said the Sovereign GOD: Come, O breath, from the four winds, and breathe into these slain, that they may live again.” (10) I prophesied as I was commanded. The breath entered them, and they came to life and stood up on their feet, a vast multitude**. (11) And I was told, “O mortal, these bones are the whole House of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone; we are doomed.’ (12) Prophesy, therefore, and say to them: Thus said the Sovereign GOD: I am going to open your graves and lift you out of the graves, O My people, and bring you to the land of Israel. (13) You shall know, O My people, that I am GOD, when I have opened your graves and lifted you out of your graves. (**14) I will put My breath into you and you shall live again, and I will set you upon your own soil.** Then you shall know that I, GOD, have spoken and have acted”—declares GOD. ### 1.3 Ketuvim #### 1.3.1 *Tehillim Mizmor 150: Every Breath for Yah* **תהילים ק״נ** **(א) הַ֥לְלוּ־יָ֨הּ ׀ הַֽלְלוּ־אֵ֥ל בְּקׇדְשׁ֑וֹ הַֽ֝לְל֗וּהוּ בִּרְקִ֥יעַ עֻזּֽוֹ׃ (ב) הַלְל֥וּהוּ בִגְבוּרֹתָ֑יו הַ֝לְל֗וּהוּ כְּרֹ֣ב גֻּדְלֽוֹ׃ (ג) הַ֭לְלוּהוּ בְּתֵ֣קַע שׁוֹפָ֑ר הַ֝לְל֗וּהוּ בְּנֵ֣בֶל וְכִנּֽוֹר׃ (ד) הַ֭לְלוּהוּ בְּתֹ֣ף וּמָח֑וֹל הַֽ֝לְל֗וּהוּ בְּמִנִּ֥ים וְעֻגָֽב׃ (ה) הַלְל֥וּהוּ בְצִלְצְלֵי־שָׁ֑מַע הַֽ֝לְל֗וּהוּ בְּֽצִלְצְלֵ֥י תְרוּעָֽה׃ (ו) כֹּ֣ל הַ֭נְּשָׁמָה תְּהַלֵּ֥ל יָ֗הּ הַֽלְלוּ־יָֽהּ׃** **Psalms 150** **(1) Hallelujah. Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in the sky, His stronghold. (2) Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him for His exceeding greatness. (3) Praise Him with blasts of the horn; praise Him with harp and lyre. (4) Praise Him with timbrel and dance; praise Him with lute and pipe. (5) Praise Him with resounding cymbals; praise Him with loud-clashing cymbals. (6) Let all that breathes praise the LORD. Hallelujah.** #### 1.3.2 Iyov (Job) on the Spirit of God **Job 32:8** אָ֭כֵן רוּחַ־הִ֣יא בֶאֱנ֑וֹשׁ וְנִשְׁמַ֖ת שַׁדַּ֣י תְּבִינֵֽם׃ But truly it is the spirit in men, The breath of Shaddai, that gives them understanding. **Robert Alter, Tanakh Translation and Commentary:**    Yet it is a spirit in man, and Shaddai’s breath that grants discernment. [Alter comments:] *Yet it is a spirit in man*. Elihu, having listened impatiently to the ineffectual arguments of his three elders, now rejects the idea that wisdom resides with the aged and instead contends that it derives from God’s gift of the spirit in a person, without regard to age. **Job 33:4** רֽוּחַ־אֵ֥ל עָשָׂ֑תְנִי וְנִשְׁמַ֖ת שַׁדַּ֣י תְּחַיֵּֽנִי׃ The spirit of God formed me; The breath of Shaddai sustains me. #### 1.3.3 Kohelet 12:6-7 עַ֣ד אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹֽא־[יֵרָתֵק֙] (ירחק) חֶ֣בֶל הַכֶּ֔סֶף וְתָר֖וּץ גֻּלַּ֣ת הַזָּהָ֑ב וְתִשָּׁ֤בֶר כַּד֙ עַל־הַמַּבּ֔וּעַ וְנָרֹ֥ץ הַגַּלְגַּ֖ל אֶל־הַבּֽוֹר׃ Before the silver cord snaps And the golden bowl crashes, The jar is shattered at the spring, And the jug is smashed at the cistern. וְיָשֹׁ֧ב הֶעָפָ֛ר עַל־הָאָ֖רֶץ כְּשֶׁהָיָ֑ה וְהָר֣וּחַ תָּשׁ֔וּב אֶל־הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר נְתָנָֽהּ׃ And the dust returns to the ground As it was, And the life breath returns to God Who bestowed it. #### 1.3.4 Divrei Hayamim 1:25 - Music as Prophecy **Divrei Hayamim 1:25:1** (א) וַיַּבְדֵּ֣ל דָּוִיד֩ וְשָׂרֵ֨י הַצָּבָ֜א לַעֲבֹדָ֗ה לִבְנֵ֤י אָסָף֙ וְהֵימָ֣ן וִֽידוּת֔וּן הנביאים [הַֽנִּבְּאִ֛ים] בְּכִנֹּר֥וֹת בִּנְבָלִ֖ים וּבִמְצִלְתָּ֑יִם וַֽיְהִי֙ מִסְפָּרָ֔ם אַנְשֵׁ֥י מְלָאכָ֖ה לַעֲבֹדָתָֽם׃ (ב) לִבְנֵ֣י אָסָ֗ף זַכּ֧וּר וְיוֹסֵ֛ף וּנְתַנְיָ֥ה וַאֲשַׂרְאֵ֖לָה בְּנֵ֣י אָסָ֑ף עַ֚ל יַד־אָסָ֔ף הַנִּבָּ֖א עַל־יְדֵ֥י הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ (1) David and the officers of the army set apart for service the sons of Asaph, of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who prophesied to the accompaniment of lyres, harps, and cymbals. The list of men who performed this work, according to their service, was: (2) Sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah—sons of Asaph under the charge of Asaph, who prophesied by order of the king. ## 2 Mefarshim (Commentaries) ### 2.1 On The Spirit of God over the Waters (Breshit 1) #### 2.1.1 Background from the Jewish Study Bible (Marc Zvi Brettler) **1**: A tradition over two millennia old sees 1.1 as a complete sentence: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In the 11th century, the great Jewish commentator Rashi made a case that the verse functions as a temporal clause. This is, in fact, how some ancient Near Eastern creation stories begin—including the one that starts at 2.4b. Hence the translation, *When God began to create heaven and earth*. **2**: This clause describes things just before the process of creation began. To modern people, the opposite of the created order is “nothing,” that is, a vacuum. To the ancients, the opposite of the created order was something much worse than “nothing.” It was an active, malevolent force we can best term “chaos.” In this verse, chaos is envisioned as a dark, undifferentiated mass of water. In 1.9, God creates the dry land (and the seas, which can exist only when water is bounded by dry land). But in 1.1–2.3, water itself and darkness, too, are primordial (contrast Isa. 45.7). In the midrash, Bar Kappara upholds the troubling notion that the Torah shows that God created the world out of preexistent material. But other rabbis worry that acknowledging this would cause people to liken God to a king who had built his palace on a garbage dump, thus arrogantly impugning His majesty (*Gen. Rab*. 1.5). In the ancient Near East, however, to say that a deity had subdued chaos is to give him the highest praise. **3–5**: Since the sun is not created until the fourth day (1.14–19), the light of the first three days is of a different order from what we know. A midrash teaches that when God saw the corruption of the generations of the flood and of the tower of Babel, He hid that primordial light away for the benefit of the righteous in the world-to-come (*b. Ḥag*. 12a). Other ancient Near Eastern myths similarly assume the existence of light before the creation of the luminaries. #### 2.1.2 JPS Commentary (Nahum Sarna) ***a wind from God*** means “wind, breath, spirit.” “Wind” is the most popular rendering of the word in ancient and medieval Jewish sources. As a physical phenomenon, wind conforms to the general picture of primal chaos evoked by this verse, except that, unlike darkness and water, it is not mentioned again in the Creation story. One possible explanation may be that wind reappears as the agent by means of which the water is separated—that is, blown back—as in Genesis 8:1 at the conclusion of the Flood and in Exodus 14.21 at the crossing of the Sea of Reeds. Wind often functions as a divine agent in the Bible. Another interpretation takes *ruach* in the sense of God’s creative, life-giving, sustaining energy. Still a third possibility lies in its use as a term heralding the arrival of God, expressing His immanence, or symbolizing His presence. The last two explanations connect the phrase with the following verse, thus alerting us to an imminent, dramatic development: God is about to transform the inert, disorganized matter, to affect it by His presence, to animate it with His spirit. [...] ***Let There Be*** The directive *yehi*, found again in verses 6 and 14, is reserved for the creation of celestial phenomena. Its usage here may be an allusion to the divine personal name YHVH. ***light*** The first creation by God’s utterance is fittingly that which serves in the Bible as a symbol of life, joy, justice, and deliverance. The notion of light independent of the sun appears again in Isaiah 30:26 and Job 38:19-20. Most likely it derives from the simple observations that the sky is illuminated even on cloudy days when the sun is obscured and that brightness precedes the rising of the sun. The source of this supernal, nonsolar light of creation became a subject of rabbinic and mystical speculation. Genesis Rabba 3:4 expresses the view that this light is the effulgent splendor of the Divine Presence. Psalms 104:2, with its theme of creation, describes God as “wrapped in a robe of light.” #### 2.1.3 Rashi **ורוח אלהים מרחפת.** כִּסֵא הַכָּבוֹד עוֹמֵד בָּאֲוִיר וּמְרַחֵף עַל פְּנֵי הַמַּיִם בְּרוּחַ פִּיו שֶׁל הַקָּבָּ"ה וּבְמַאֲמָרוֹ, כְּיוֹנָה הַמְרַחֶפֶת עַל הַקֵּן, אקוב"טיר בְּלַעַ"ז: (*Tran. M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann*) AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD WAS HOVERING — The throne of Divine Glory was standing in space, hovering over the face of the waters by the breath of the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, and by His command, even as a dove hovers over its nest. In old French acoveter. #### 2.1.4 Sforno **ורוח אלהים.** מניעי הגלגל שנקראו רוח כאמרו עושה מלאכיו רוחות: The energy propelling the planet is called ruach,” as we know from Psalms 104,4 עושה מלאכיו רוחות, “He makes the winds His messengers.” #### 2.1.5 Cassuto **ורוח אלהים מרחפת על פני המים**. הוי״ו של **ורוח** היא וי״ו הניגוד: אמנם היתה הארץ תהו ובהו, והכל היה שרוי בחושך, ואולם ממעל לאותו החומר הגלמי מרחפת היתה **רוח אלהים,** מקור האור ומקור החיים. לפי דרש רבותינו (חגיגה י״ב ע״א) רוח זו הריהי רוח ממש, אויר מתנועע, בריאה שבראה אלהים ביום הראשון. וכך מבינים אותה רוב מפרשי זמננו, כרוח חזקה הבאה להפריד את המים העליונים מן המים התחתונים או את המים התחתונים מן היבשה. אבל אין זה נראה פשוטו של מקרא. אותן הפעולות של הפרדה עתידות להיעשות רק ביום השני וביום השלישי, ובמאמר אלהים עתידות להיעשות, לא באמצעות שום גורם נוסף. ועוד, לא הפועל **מרחפת** ולא הביטוי **על פני המים** מתאימים לפירוש זה. הוראת **רוח אלהים** כאן כהוראת **רוח אל** באיוב ל״ג, ד׳: רוח אל עשתני, ונשמת שדי תחיני. *No translation yet* **Job 33:4** רֽוּחַ־אֵ֥ל עָשָׂ֑תְנִי וְנִשְׁמַ֖ת שַׁדַּ֣י תְּחַיֵּֽנִי׃ The spirit of God formed me; The breath of Shaddai sustains me. #### 2.1.6 Further Notes on *Tohu and Bohu* Robert Alter translates “welter and waste” and comments: “The Hebrew _tohu wabohu_ occurs only here and in two later biblical texts that are clearly alluding to this one. The second word of the pair looks like a nonce term coined to rhyme with the first and to reinforce it, an effect I have tried to approximate in English by alliteration. Tohu by itself means “emptiness” or “futility,” and in some contexts is associated with the trackless vacancy of the desert. _hovering_. The verb attached to God’s breath-wind-spirit (ruaḥ) elsewhere describes an eagle fluttering over its young and so might have a connotation of parturition or nurture as well as rapid back-and-forth movement. The Jewish Study Bible comments on our verse (from the introduction): “The account of creation with which Genesis opens (1.1–2.3), for example, has affinities with _Enuma elish_, a Babylonian epic, which tells how one god, Marduk, attained supremacy over the others and created the world by splitting his aquatic enemy _Tiamat_ (cf. Heb _tehom_, “the deep”) in half.” ### 2.2 On Breshit 2: The breath of Life #### 2.2.1 Ramban **Nachmanides Commentary on 2:7** **וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים** יִרְמֹז לָנוּ הַכָּתוּב הַזֶּה מַעֲלַת הַנֶּפֶשׁ יְסוֹדָהּ וְסוֹדָהּ, כִּי הִזְכִּיר בָּהּ שֵׁם מָלֵא, וְאָמַר כִּי הוּא נָפַח בְּאַפָּיו נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים, לְהוֹדִיעַ כִּי לֹא בָּאָה בּוֹ מִן הַיְּסוֹדוֹת, כַּאֲשֶׁר רָמַז בְּנֶפֶשׁ הַתְּנוּעָה (בראשית א':כ'), גַּם לֹא בְּהִשְׁתַּלְשְׁלוּת מִן הַשְּׂכָלִים הַנִּבְדָּלִים, אֲבָל הִיא רוּחַ הַשֵּׁם הַגָּדוֹל, מִפִּיו דַּעַת וּתְבוּנָה, כִּי הַנּוֹפֵחַ בְּאַפֵּי אַחֵר מִנִּשְׁמָתוֹ יִתֵּן בּוֹ. וְזֶהוּ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (איוב לב ח) "וְנִשְׁמַת שַׁדַּי תְּבִינֵם", כִּי הִיא מִיְּסוֹד הַבִּינָה בְּדֶרֶךְ אֱמֶת וֶאֱמוּנָה. <div>AND HE BREATHED INTO HIS NOSTRILS THE BREATH OF LIFE. This alludes to the superiority of the soul, its foundation and secret, since it mentions in connection with it the full Divine Name. And the verse says that He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life in order to inform us that the soul did not come to man from the elements, as He intimated concerning the soul of moving things, nor was it an evolvement from the Separate Intelligences. Rather, it was the spirit of the Great G-d: <i>out of his mouth cometh knowledge and discernment</i>.<i class="footnote"> *Proverbs 2:6.</i> For he who breathes into the nostrils of another person gives into him something from his own soul. It is this which Scripture says, <i>And the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding</i>,<i class="footnote"> *Job 32:8.</i> since the soul is from the foundation of <i>binah</i> (understanding) by way of truth and faith.</div> **Job 32:8** אָ֭כֵן רוּחַ־הִ֣יא בֶאֱנ֑וֹשׁ וְנִשְׁמַ֖ת שַׁדַּ֣י תְּבִינֵֽם׃ But truly it is the spirit in men, The breath of Shaddai, that gives them understanding. **Robert Alter, Tanakh Translation and Commentary:**    Yet it is a spirit in man, and Shaddai’s breath that grants discernment. [Alter comments:] *Yet it is a spirit in man*. Elihu, having listened impatiently to the ineffectual arguments of his three elders, now rejects the idea that wisdom resides with the aged and instead contends that it derives from God’s gift of the spirit in a person, without regard to age. #### 2.2.2 Hizkuni **ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים.** בנפיחתו של הקב״‎ה שהיא רוח הקודש מה שלא נפח בשום אף בריה וכל כך למה כדי לכוין דעתו לחוד חידה שיקרא לבריות השמות עצמן שקרא להם הקב״‎ה וכן כתוב וכל אשר יקרא לו, הוא שמו פי׳‎ הוא השם שקרא לו הקב״‎ה קודם שהביאם לו. **“He blew into his nostrils a living soul.”** G-d's breath is the holy spirit which He had not done for any of His other creatures. Why was this necessary? To enable Adam to call the creates by the names which God had called them, as it is said that God called the creatures by the names that Adam called, because that was the name that God had used before God brought the animals to Adam. **נשמת חיים.** נשמה שהיא חיה לעולם ואינה מתה במות הגוף. **“An immortal soul,”** surviving the death of the body it inhabits. ### 2.3 Jewish Study Bible's Introduction to Breshit (Jon D. Levenson) Creation in seven days. The book of Genesis—and thus the Bible itself—opens with an account of creation that is extraordinary for its austerity. Other ancient Near Eastern evocations of God’s (or the gods’) world-ordering activity, including many in the Bible itself (e.g., Ps. 104), provide high drama and graphic description of the events and their protagonists (even the Lord). Gen. 1.1–2.3, however, is utterly devoid of sensory detail. This eerie abstractness, combined with the highly schematic and formulaic structure of the narrative, conveys a sense of the awe-inspiring majesty and inviolable sovereignty of the God on whom the narrative is unswervingly focused. This narrative is structured by a pattern of seven days, six in which God accomplishes all His creative labors, and one in which He rests in regal repose, blessing and hallowing that climactic day. The correlations between things created on the various days exhibit a high degree of symmetry (see diagram, next page). The first three days describe the creation of generalities or domains; the next three chronicle the creation of the specifics or the inhabitants of the domains in the same order. Creation comes to its culmination, however, only in the one day that has no counterpart, the Sabbath (“Shabbát” in modern Heb, or “Shábbes” in the Eastern European pronunciation), here observed by God above and not yet enjoined upon His people Israel (who first hear of it in Exod. ch 16). The organization of time into seven-day units has become so familiar and so widespread that it is easy to forget that unlike the month (which in the Bible is lunar) and the year (which in the Bible never moves too far from its solar base), the biblical week corresponds to no astronomical event. The notion that seven signifies completeness and that things come to their fit conclusion on the seventh day did, however, have wide resonance in the ancient Near Eastern world in which Israel emerged, and that idea doubtless stands in the background of our passage. The role of the number seven in 1.1–2.3 extends, in fact, beyond the obvious division of the acts of creation into a seven-day sequence. For example, the expression, _And God saw that_ [something He made] _was good_ or _very good_ occurs seven times, but not on every day of the primordial week. Missing on the second and seventh, it appears twice on the adjacent third and sixth days (1.10, 12, 25, 31). Similarly, the word “God” occurs exactly thirty-five times (i.e., five times seven) in our passage, and the section devoted to the seventh day (2.1–3) has exactly thirty-five words in the Heb. The organization of the process of creation into a sequence of seven days is familiar to most readers not only from the opening of the Tanakh but also from the Sabbath commandment of the Decalogue in Exod. 20.8–11. But we must not forget that this connection is far from universal in the Tanakh. In fact, most biblical descriptions of creation know nothing of a seven-day sequence (e.g., Ps. 104; Prov. 8.22–31), and most texts about the Sabbath (including the version of the Decalogue in Deut. 5.12–15) make no reference to creation. The suspicion arises that 1.1–2.3 derives from a distinct school of thought, one that dates to a relatively late period in the history of Israelite religion. On the basis of these considerations, and a multitude of others, critical scholars attribute the passage to the P (for “Priestly”) source. And God does function here in ways reminiscent of a “kohen” (priest), giving blessings, for example (1.22, 28; 2.3; cf. Lev. 9.22–23; Num. 6.22–27), and consecrating the Sabbath (2.3; cf. Ezek. 44.24). The concern shown in this story for order and clear boundaries typifies the Priestly corpus. More importantly, the creation of the world in 1.1–2.3 bears several striking resemblances to the Priestly construction of the Tabernacle mandated in Exod. chs 25–31 and executed in Exod. chs 35–40 (e.g., see Gen. 2.1–3; Exod. 39.32, 42–43)—the prototype of the Jerusalem Temple and the focus of the priestly service of the Lord. Other ancient Near Eastern creation stories also conclude with the construction of a temple for the creation god. ### 2.4 JSP on Shmuel 1:10 The Anointing of Shaul (Shimon Bar-Efrat and Marc Zvi Brettler) **5:** *The Hill of God* (Gibeah of God) is also called Gibeah of Saul, Gibeah of Benjamin, or just Gibeah. Music served to induce a state of ecstasy (see 2 Kings 3.15). The ecstatic, communal prophets were essentially different from the later, lone, literary prophets. **6:** *The spirit of the Lord* manifests itself in some exceptional ability, like prophesying or leadership. The *grip*ping of *the spirit* connects Saul, the first king, to Samson, the last judge (Judg. 14.6, 19; 15.14). **8:** Samuel informs Saul of their relationship right from the beginning: The king is subordinate to the prophet and must follow his instructions. **9:** *Another heart,* another personality. From a simple, diffident peasant Saul is transformed into a charismatic leader. The text summarizes the first two *signs,* saying merely that they were *fulfilled,* and will focus on the third, around which a popular story developed. **10–12:** The episode demonstrates that Saul has become *another man* (v. 6). **10:** *He spoke in ecstasy* reflects a form of the verb “n-b-ʾ,” related to the noun “nabi,” prophet, but is generally used pejoratively, and is never used in this form for the classical prophets. **11:** Here *son of Kish* is not necessarily slighting... Kish is a well-known and prosperous citizen, and his son’s conduct arouses astonishment. **12:** *And who are their fathers,* a disdainful rhetorical question. The other prophets do not come from distinguished families like Saul, which makes his affiliation with them even more astonishing. *“Is Saul too among the prophets?”* The proverb, whose origin is explained differently at 19.24, expresses surprise at a person who engages in something foreign to him or associates with people unlike himself. ### 2.5 JSB on Divrei Hayamim 1:25 Jewish Study Bible: 25.1–31: The musicians/singers. The placement of this group following the Levites reflects their related roles in the cult. 1–3: Another facet of Chronicles’ views on prophecy. It is possible that the Levitical prophecy of these vv. is a kind of cultic and musically inspired prophecy, but more likely Chronicles viewed the musical performance itself as a form of prophecy, i.e., written or performed under prophetic inspiration. Chronicles claims that the musical aspects of the Levites’ activity are, like other features of Israel’s cultic service, the product of divine inspiration. (Even so, precisely what is intended by this position, viz., the “lyrics” or musical arrangement, etc., is uncertain.) For earlier examples of music as part of prophetic ecstasy, see 1 Sam. 10.5. The reference to prophecy in connection with cultic music (i.e., psalms) served as a basis for the claim of Saadia Gaon (9th c. ce) that the Psalms were not (contra the claims of Karaite scholars) a book of spontaneous prayers emanating from the human heart but were, rather, prophetically “dictated” vv. to be used only as directed. ## 3 Midrash ### 3.1 Midrashim on Breshit 1: The Spirit of God over the Waters #### 3.1.1 Breshit Rabba 2:4 וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים מְרַחֶפֶת, זֶה רוּחוֹ שֶׁל מֶלֶךְ הַמָּשִׁיחַ, הֵיאַךְ מָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (ישעיה יא, ב): וְנָחָה עָלָיו רוּחַ ה'. (Trans. Sefaria 2022) “And the spirit of God was hovering” – this is the spirit of the messianic king, as it says: “The spirit of the Lord will rest upon him” (Isaiah 11:2) #### 3.1.2 Midrash Tanhumah Tazria 2 ויצר ה' אלהים מן האדמה כל חית השדה (שם שם יט), לכך הוא אומר אחור וקדם צרתני. ר' שמעון בן לקיש אומר אחור למעשה יום ששי, וקדם למעשה יום הראשון, מה טעם, (ריש לקיש אמר) [דאמר ר' שמעון בן לקיש] ורוח אלהים מרחפת על פני המים (שם א ב) זו נפשו של אדם הראשון, לפיכך הוא אומר אחור וקדם צרתני, אחור למעשה יום ששי, וקדם למעשה יום ראשון. (Trans. John Townsend 1989) It therefore says (in Ps. 139:5): YOU HAVE FORMED ME BEHIND AND BEFORE. R. Simeon ben Laqish says: BEHIND (in the sense of what comes afterwards) < refers > to an event of the sixth day, and BEFORE < refers > to an event of the first day. What is the reason? {Resh Laqish said} [Thus has R. Simeon ben Laqish said] (in Gen. 1:2): AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD WAS HOVERING OVER THE FACE OF THE WATERS. This SPIRIT was the soul of the first Adam. It therefore says (in Ps. 139:5): YOU HAVE FORMED ME BEHIND AND BEFORE. BEHIND < refers > to an event of the sixth day, and BEFORE < refers > to an event of the first day. **Tehilim 139:5** אָח֣וֹר וָקֶ֣דֶם צַרְתָּ֑נִי וַתָּ֖שֶׁת עָלַ֣י כַּפֶּֽכָה׃ You hedge me before and behind; You lay Your hand upon me. #### 3.1.3 Midrash Tanhumah Noach 12:1 ויעבר אלהים רוח. איזה רוח (עובר) [העביר] הקב"ה על (הרוח) [הארץ] ועל המים והחזירן כשם שהיו מתחילתן, שנא' ויעבר אלהים רוח על הארץ, [וישכו המים] וכתיב ורוח אלהים מרחפת על פני המים (שם א ב), אותו הרוח העביר עליהן ונחו מיד. (Trans. John Townsend 1989) (Gen. 8:1, cont.:) AND GOD CAUSED A WIND TO PASS < OVER THE EARTH >. {Which wind? The Holy One passes over the wind} [Which one? The Holy One caused a wind to pass over the earth] and over the waters. Thus he restored them just as they were at their beginning. It is so stated (ibid.): AND GOD CAUSED A WIND TO PASS OVER THE EARTH, [AND THE WATERS SUBSIDED]. It is also written (in Gen. 1:2): AND THE WIND OF GOD WAS HOVERING OVER FACE OF THE WATERS. That very wind he caused to pass over them, and immediately they settled down. ### 3.2 Breshit Rabba on Mizmor 150 רַבִּי לֵוִי בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי חֲנִינָא אָמַר, עַל כָּל נְשִׁימָה וּנְשִׁימָה שֶׁאָדָם נוֹשֵׁם צָרִיךְ לְקַלֵּס לַבּוֹרֵא, מַה טַּעַם (תהלים קנ, ו): כֹּל הַנְּשָׁמָה תְּהַלֵּל יָהּ, כָּל הַנְּשִׁימָה תְּהַלֵּל יָהּ. Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina: For each and every breath that a person takes, he must laud the Creator. What is the source? “Let every soul [neshama] praise God” (Psalms 150:6) – [read instead:] Let every breath [neshima] praise God. ## 4 Sefer Yetsirah ### 4.1 Sefer Yetsirah (1:1-2:3) *From the A. Leader and T. Ziskind Edition* (א:א) בִּשְׁלֹשִׁים ושְׁתַים נְתִיבוֹת פְלִיאוֹת חָכְמָה חָקַק יה יהוה צְבָאוֹת אֱלֹהִים חַיִים אֵל שַׁדַּי רָם וְנִשָׂא שׁוֹכֵן עַד וְקָדוֹשׁ שְׁמוֹ מָרוֹם וְקָדוֹשׁ הוּא וּבְרָא אֶת עוֹלָמוֹ בִּשְׁלֹשָׁה סְפָרִים בִּסְפָר סֵפֶר וְסִפּוּר (ב) עֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת בְּלִימָה וְעֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁתַּיִם אוֹתִיּוֹת שָׁלשׁ אִמוֹת וְשֶׁבַע כְּפוּלוֹת ושְׁתַים עֶשְׂרֵה פְּשׁוּטוֹת (ג) עֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת בְּלִימָה כְּמִסְפַּר עֶשֶׂר אֶצְבָּעוֹת חָמֵשׁ כְּנֶגֶד חָמֵשׁ וּבְרִית יָחִיד מְכוּוֶנֶת בָאֶמְצַע בְּמִלַּת הַלָּשׁוֹן וּבְמִילַת הַמָּעוֹר (ד) עֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת בְּלִימָה עֶשֶׂר וְלֹא תֵשַׁע עֶשֶׂר וְלֹא אַחַת עֶשְרֵה הָבֵן בְּחָכְמָה וְחַכֵם בְּבִינָה בְחֹן בָּהֶן וַחֲקֹר מֵהֶן וְהַעֲמֵד דָּבָר עַל בֻרִיוֹ וְהוֹשֵב יוֹצֵר עַל מְכוֹנוֹ (ה) עֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת בְּלִימָה מִדָתָן עֶשֶׂר שֶאֵין לָהֶן סוֹף עֹמֶק רֵאשִית וְעֹמֶק אַחֲרִית עֹמֶק טוֹב וְעֹמֶק רַע עֹמֶק רוּם וְעֹמֶק תַּחַת עֹמֶק מִזְרָח וְעֹמֶק מַעֲרָב עֹמֶק צָפוֹן וְעֹמֶק דָרוֹם וְאָדוֹן יָחִיד אֵל מֶלֶךְ נָאְֶמָן מוֹשֵׁל בְּכֻלָּן מִמְעוֹן קָדְשׁוֹ עַד עֲדֵי עַד (ו) עֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת בְּלִימָה צְפִיתָן כְּמַרְאֵה הַבָּזָק וְתַּכְלִיתָן אֵין לָהֶן קֵץ וּדְבָרוֹ בָּהֶן בְּרָצוֹא וָשׁוֹב וּמַאֲמָרוֹ כְּסוּפָה יִרְדּפוּ וְלִפְנֵי כִּסְאוֹ הֵם מִשְׁתַּחֲוִים (ז) עֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת בְּלִימָה נעוּץ סוֹפָן בִּתְחִלָתָן וּתְחִלָתָן בְּסוֹפָן כְּשַׁלְהֶבֶת קְשׁוּרָה בְּגַחֶלֶת וְאָדוֹן יָחִיד וְאֵין לוֹ שֵׁנִי וְלִפְנֵי אֶחָד מָה אַתָּה סוֹפֵר (ח) עֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת בְּלִימָה בְּלֹם פִּיךְ מִלְדַבֵּר וְלִבְּךָ מִלְהַרְחֵר וְאִם רָץ פִיךָ לְדַבֵּר וְלִבְּךָ לְהַרְחֵר שׁוּב לַמָּקוֹם שֶׁלְכָךְ נֶאֱמַר וְהַחַיּוֹת רָצוֹא וָשׁוֹב וְעַל דָּבָר זֶה נִכְרְתָה בְּרִית (ט) עֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת בְּלִימָה אַחַת רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים חַיִים קוֹל וְרוּחַ וְדִבּוּר וְהוּא רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ (י) שְׁתַּיִם רוּחַ מֵרוּחַ חָקַק וְחָצַב בָּהּ עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁתַּיִם אוֹתִיּוֹת שָׁלֹשׁ אִמּוֹת וְשֶׁבַע כְּפוּלוֹת וּשְׁתֵים עֶשְׂרֵה פְשׁוּטוֹת וְרוּחַ לְכָל אַחַת מֵהֶן (יא) שָׁלֹשׁ מַיִם מֵרוּחַ חֲקַק וְחָצַב בָּהּ עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁתַּיִם אוֹתִיּוֹת מִתֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ רֶפֶשׁ וָטִיט חֲקָקָן כְּמִין עָרוּגָה חֲצָבָן כְמִין חוֹמָה סְכָכָן כְּמִין מַעֲזִיבָה וְיָצַק עֲלֵיהֶן שֶלֶג וְנַעֲשָׂה עָפָר שְנֶאֱמַר כִי לַשֶֶלֶג יֹאמַר הֱוֵא אָרֶץ (יב) אַרְבַּע אֵשׁ מִמַּיִם חָקַק וְחָצַב בָּהּ כִּסֵּא הַכָּבוֹד שְׂרָפִים וְחַיּוֹת וְאוֹפַנֵי הַקֹּדֶשׁ וּמִשְׁלָשְׁתָּן יָסַד מְעוֹנוֹ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר עֹשֶׂה מַלְאָכָיו רוּחוֹת מְשָׁרְתָיו אֵשׁ לֹהֵט (יג) בִּירֵר שָׁלֹשׁ אוֹתִיּוֹת מִן הַפְּשׁוּטוֹת בְּסוֹד שָׁלֹשׁ אִמּוֹת **אמש** וּקְבָעָן בִּשְׁמוֹ הַגָּדוֹל וְחָתָם בָּהֶן שִׁשָּׁה קְצָווֹת חָמֵשׁ חָתַם רוּם וּפָנָה לְמַעְלָה וַחֲתָמוֹ בְּיהו שֵׁשׁ חָתָם תַּחַת וּפָנָה לְמַטָּה וַחֲתָמוֹ בְּיוה שֶׁבַע חָתָם מִזְרָח וּפָנָה לְפָנָיו וַחֲתָמוֹ בְּהוי (בעקבות רא"א) שְׁמוֹנֶה חָתַם מַעֲרָב וּפָנָה לַאֲחוֹרָיו וַחֲתָמוֹ בְּהיו תֵשַׁע חָתַם דָּרוֹם וּפָנָה לִימִינוֹ וַחֲתָמוֹ בְּויה עֶשֶׂר חָתַם צָפוֹן וּפָנָה לִשְׂמֹאלוֹ וַחֲתָמוֹ בְּוהי (יד) אֵלוּ עֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת בְּלִימָה אַחַת רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים חַיִּים רוּחַ מֵרוּחַ מַים מֵרוּחַ אֵשׁ מִמַּיִם רוּם וָתַחַת מִזְרָח וּמַעֲרָב דָּרוֹם וְצָפוֹן (ב:א) עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁתַּים אוֹתִיוֹת שְׁלשׁ אִמוֹת וְשֶׁבַע כְּפוּלוֹת וּשְׁתַּים עֶשְׂרֵה פְּשׁוּטוֹת (ב) עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁתֵּים אוֹתִיוֹת יְסוֹד חֲקָקָן חֲצָבָן צֵרְפָן שְׁקָלָן וֶהֱמִירָן וְצָר בָּהֶן אֶת כָּל הַיְצוּר וְאֶת כָּל הֶעָתִיד לָצוּר (ג) עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁתַּים אוֹתיות חֲקָקָן בְּקוֹל חֲצָבָן בְּרוּחַ וּקְבָעָן בַּפֶּה בַּחֲמִשָּׁה מְקוֹמוֹת אחהע בַּגָרוֹן גיכק בַּחֵךְ דטלנת בַּלָּשׁוֹן זסצרש בַּשִׁנַיִם בומף בַּשְׂפָתַיִם *Sefer Yetsirah Hagra, trans. Aryeh Kaplan* (1:1) With 32 mystical paths of Wisdom/ engraved Yah/ the Lord of Hosts/ the God of Israel/the living God/ King of the universe/ El Shaddai/ Merciful and Gracious/ High and Exalted/ Dwelling in eternity/ Whose name is Holy -/ He is lofty and holy -/ And He created His universe/ with three books (Sepharim),/ with text (Sepher)/ with numbers (Sephar)/ and with communication (Sippur).... (2) Ten Sefirot of Nothingness/ and 22 Foundation Letters:/ Three Mothers,/ Seven Doubles/ And twelve Elementals. (3) Ten Sefirot of Nothingness/ in the number of ten fingers/ five opposite five/ with a singular covenant/ precisely in the middle/ in the circumcision of the tongue/ and in the circumcision of the membrum. (4) Ten Sefirot of Nothingness/ ten and not nine/ ten and not eleven/ Understand with Wisdom/ Be wise with Understanding/ Examine with them/ and probe from them/ Make [each] thing stand on its essence/ And make the Creator sit on His base. (5) Ten Sephirot of Nothingness:/ Their measure is ten/ which have no end/ A depth of beginning/ A depth of end/ A depth of good/ A depth of evil/ A depth of above/ A depth of below/ A depth of east/ A depth of west/ A depth of north/ A depth of south/ The singular Master/ God faithful King/ dominates over them all/ from His holy dwelling/ until eternity of eternities. (6) Ten Sephirot of Nothingness/ Their vision is like the "appearance of lightning"/ Their limit has no end/ And His Word in them is "running and returning"/ They rush to His saying like a whirlwind/ And before His throne they prostrate themselves. (7) Ten Sephirot of Nothingness/ Their end is imbedded in their beginning/ and their beginning in their end/ like a flame in a burning coal/ For the Master is singular/ He has no second/ And before One, what do you count? (8) Ten Sephirot of Nothingness/ Bridle your mouth from speaking/ and your heart from thinking/ And if your mouth runs to speak and your heart to think/ return to the place. It is therefore written,/ "The Chayot running and returning." (Ezekiel 1:14)/ Regarding this a covenant was made. (9) Ten Sephirot of Nothingness:/ One is the Breath of the Living God/ Blessed and benedicted is the name/ of the Life of Worlds/ The voice of breath and speech/ And this is the Holy Breath. (10) Two: Breath from Breath./ With it He engraved and carved/ 22 Foundation Letters/ Three Mothers/ Seven Doubles/ and Twelve Elementals/ And one Breath is from them. (11) Three: Water from Breath./ With it He engraved and carved/ [22 letters from]/ chaos and void/ mire and clay/ He engraved them like a sort of garden/ He carved them like a sort of wall/ He covered them like a sort of ceiling/ [And he poured snow over them/ and it became dust/ as it is written/ "For to snow He said, 'Become earth'" (Job 37:6).] (12) Four: Fire from Water/ With it He engraved and carved/ the Throne of Glory/ Serafim, Ophanim, and holy Chayot/ and Ministering angels/ From these three He founded His dwelling/ as it is written:/ "He makes His angels of breaths,/ His ministers of flaming fire" (Psalms 104:4). (13) He chose three letters/ from among the Elementals/ [in the mystery of the three mothers/ Alef Mem Shin (אמש)]/ And He set them in His great Name/ and with them, He sealed six extremities./ Five: He sealed "above" and faced upward/ and sealed it with Yud Hey Vav (יהו)./ Six: He sealed "below" and faced downward/ and sealed it with Heh Yud Vav (היו)./ Seven: He sealed "east" and faced straight ahead/ and sealed it with Vav Yud Heh (ויה)./ Eight: He sealed "west" and faced backward/ and sealed it with Vav Heh Yud (והי)./ Nine: He sealed "south" and faced to the right/ and sealed it with Yud Vav Heh (יוה)./ Ten: He sealed "north" and faced to the left/ and selaed it with Heh Vav Yud (הוי). (14) These are the Ten Sefirot of Nothingness:/ The Breath of the Living God/ Breath from Breath/ Water from Breath/ Fire from Water/ Up down east west north south. (2:1) Twenty-two Foundation Letters:/ Three Mothers/ Seven Doubles/ and Twelve Elementals./ The Three Mothers are Alef Mem Shin (אמש),/ Their foundation is/ a pan of merit/ a pan of liability/ and the tongue of decree deciding between them./ [Three Mothers, Alef Mem Shin (אמש)/ Mem hums, Shin hisses/ and Aleph is the Breath of air/ deciding between them.] (2) Twenty-two Foundation letters:/ He engraved them, He carved them,/ He permuted them, He weighed them,/ He transformed them,/ And with them, He depicted all that was formed/ and all that would be formed. (3) Twenty-two Foundation Letters/ He engraved them with voice/ He carved them with breath/ He set them in the mouth/ In five places/ Alef Chet Heh Eyin (אחהע) in the throat (Gutturals)/ Gimel Yud Kaf Kuf (גיכק) in the palate (Palatals)/ Dalet Tet Lamed Nun Tav (דטלנת)/ in the tongue (Linguals)/ Zayin Samekh Shin Resh Tzadi (זסשרצ)/ in the teeth (Dentals)/ Bet Vav Mem Peh (בומפ) in the lips. (Labials) ### 4.2 Activation of the Spirit using Sefer Yetsirah **א:א** בִּשְׁלֹשִׁים וּשְׁתַּיִם נְתִיבוֹת פְּלִיאוֹת חָכְמָה חָקַק יָה יְהוָ-ה צְבָאוֹת… וּבָרָא אֶת עוֹלָמוֹ בִּשְׁלֹשָׁה סְפָרִים בִּסְפָר סֵפֶר וְסִפּוּר: **1:1** With 32 paths of Wisdom engraved Yah, the Lord of Hosts… And  created Hir universe with three books (Sepharim), with numbers (Sephar) with words (Sepher),  and with narrative (Sippur). --- **א:ב** עֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת בְּלִימָה וְעֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁתַּיִם אוֹתִיּוֹת שָׁלֹשׁ אִמּוֹת וְשֶׁבַע כְּפוּלוֹת וּשְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה פְּשׁוּטוֹת **1:2** Ten Sefirot of Nothingness and 22 Letters Three Mothers, Seven Doubles And twelve Elementals. --- **א:ג** עֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת בְּלִימָה כְּמִסְפַּר עֶשֶׂר אֶצְבָּעוֹת חָמֵשׁ כְּנֶגֶד חָמֵשׁ וּבְרִית יָחִיד מְכַוֶּנֶת בָּאֶמְצַע בְּמִלַּת הַלָּשׁוֹן וּבְמִלַּת הַמָּעוֹר: [...] **1:3** Ten Sefirot of Nothingness like the number of ten fingers five opposite five with a singular covenant, precisely in the middle in the circumcision of the tongue, and in the circumcision of the membrum. [...] --- **א:ח** עֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת בְּלִימָה בְּלֹם פִּיךָ מִלְּדַבֵּר וְלִבְּךָ מִלְּהַרְהֵר וְאִם רָץ פִּיךָ לְדַבֵּר וְלִבְּךָ לְּהַרְהֵר שׁוּב לַמָּקוֹם שֶׁלְּכָךְ נֶאֱמַר וְהַחַיּוֹת רָצוֹא וָשׁוֹב וְעַל דָּבָר זֶה נִכְרְתָה בְּרִית: **1:8** Ten Sephirot of Nothingness/ Cease your mouth from speaking/ and your mind from thinking/ And when your mouth runs to speak and your heart to think/ return to the place. Thus it is written,/ "The Animals are running and returning." (Ezekiel 1:24)/ About this thing a covenant has been made. --- **א:ט** עֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת בְּלִימָה אַחַת רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים חַיִּים קוֹל וְרוּחַ וְדִבּוּר וְהוּא רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ **1:9** Ten Sephirot of Nothingness One The Spirit of the Living God Voice and breath and speech It is the Holy Spirit --- **א:י** שְׁתֵּים רוּחַ מֵרוּחַ חָקַק וְחָצַב בָּהּ עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁתַּיִם אוֹתִיּוֹת יְסוֹד... וְרוּחַ אַחַת מֵהֶן:  [ורוח לכל אחת מהן] **1:10** Two Spirit from Spirit. With it She engraved and carved 22 Foundation Letters... All of them of one spirit [Each one endowed with spirit] --- **ג:יא** שָׁלֹשׁ מַיִם מֵרוּחַ חָקַק וְחָצַב בָּהּ עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁתַּיִם אוֹתִיּוֹת מתֹּהוּ וָבֹהוּ רֶפֶשׁ וָטִיט… וְיָצַק עֲלֵיהֶם שֶׁלֶג וְנַעֲשָׂה עָפָר שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר כִּי לַשֶּׁלֶג יֹאמַר הֱוֵא אָרֶץ: **3:11** Three Water from Breath./ With it She engraved and carved/ 22 letters from chaos and void/ mire and clay… And She poured snow over them/ and it became earth/ as it is written/ "For to snow She said, 'Become earth'" (Job 37:6). --- **א:יב** אַרְבַּע אֵשׁ מִמַּיִם חָקַק וְחָצַב בָּהּ כִּסֵּא הַכָּבוֹד שְׂרָפִים וָאֳפָנִים וְחַיּוֹת הַקֹּדֶשׁ… **1:12** Four Fire from Water/ With it She engraved and carved/ the Throne of Glory/ Serafim, Ophanim, and holy Animals/… --- ![](7%20Pasted%20image%2020240804153543.png) **א:יג [...]** חָמֵשׁ חָתַם רוּם וּפָנָה לְמַעְלָה וְחַתָּמוֹ בְּיה"ו. שֵׁשׁ חָתַם תַּחַת וּפָנָה לְמַטָּה וְחַתָּמוֹ בְּיו"ה. שֶׁבַע חָתַם מִזְרָח וּפָנָה לְפָנָיו וְחַתָּמוֹ בְּהו"י. שמונֶה חָתַם מַעֲרָב וּפָנָה לְאַחֲרָיו וְחַתָּמוֹ בְּהי"ו. תֵּשַׁע חָתַם דָּרוֹם וּפָנָה לְיָמֵינוּ וְחַתָּמוֹ בְּוי"ה. עֶשֶׂר חָתַם צָפוֹן וּפָנָה לִשְׂמֹאלוֹ וְחַתָּמוֹ בְּוה"י: **1:13 [...]** Five - She sealed "above" and faced upward/ and sealed it with Yud Heh Vav./ Six - She sealed "below" and faced downward/ and sealed it with Yud Vav Heh./ Seven - She sealed "east" and faced straight ahead/ and sealed it with Heh Vav Yud./ Eight - She sealed "west" and faced backward/ and sealed it with Heh Yud Vav./ Nine - She sealed "south" and faced to the right/ and sealed it with Vav Yud Heh./ Ten - She sealed "north" and faced to the left/ and sealed it with Vav Heh Yud). --- **קטע מספר יצירה ד:ד** מַעְלָה וּמַטָּה מִזְרָח וּמַעֲרָב דָּרוֹם וְצָפוֹן וְהֵיכַל הַקֹּדֶשׁ מְכֻוָּן בָּאֶמְצַע וְהוּא נוֹשֵׂא אֶת כֻּלָּן: **Selection from Sefer Yestsira 4:4** Up and down/ East and west/ South and north/ And the Palace Sanctum aligned in the center/ and it carries them all. --- **א:יד** אֵלּוּ עֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת בְּלִימָה אַחַת רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים חַיִּים רוּחַ מֵרוּחַ מַיִם מֵרוּחַ אֵשׁ מִמַּיִם רוּם וְתַחַת מִזְרָח וּמַעֲרָב דָּרוֹם וְצָפוֹן **1:14** These are the Ten Sefirot of Nothingness:/ The Sprit of the Living God/ Breath from Spirit/ Water from Breath/ Fire from Water/ Up and Down East and West South and North --- **Conclusion for Meditation (Variation on 1:8 above, not in Sefer Yesirah)** עֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת בְּלִימָה בָּלַמְנוּ פִּינוּ מִלְּדַבֵּר וְלִבֵּנוּ מִלְּהַרְהֵר וְאִם רָץ פִּינּוּ לְדַבֵּר וְלִבֵּנוּ לְּהַרְהֵר שַׁבְנוּ לַמָּקוֹם שֶׁלְּכָךְ נֶאֱמַר וְהַחַיּוֹת רָצוֹא וָשׁוֹב וְעַתָּה יָשׁוּבוּ לָרוּץ וְעַל דָּבָר זֶה נִכְרְתָה בְּרִית: Ten Sephirot of Nothingness/ We ceased our mouths from speaking/ and our minds from thinking/ And when our mouth ran to speak and our minds ran to think/ we returned to the place. Thus it is written,/ "And the Animals are running and returning." (Ezekiel 1:24)/ And now they will return to run  About this thing a covenant has been made. --- ## 5 Rabbi Avraham Abulafia ### 5.1 Abulafia on the Breath ![[19 רבי אברהם אבולעפיה על הנשימה|רבי אברהם אבולעפיה על הנשימה]] ![[08 R Abulafia on the Breath]] ### 5.2 Abulafia on the Breath in Mizmor 150 ![[38 כל הנשימה תהלל יה]] ![[28 Every Breath for Yah]] ### 5.3 Prophecy and the Anointing Oil ![[21 Abulafia Anointing Oil Text in Hebrew-English Table]] ### 5.4 Kavanah for the Hazkarah | Rabbi Avraham Abulafia on the Vocalization of the Divine Name – The Light of the Intellect, Part 8 | **רבי אברהם אבולעפיה על** הזכרת שמות הקודש בספר אור השכל', חלק ח’ | | :---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | In the hour that you wish to vocalize the glorious name, which is engraved above with its vowels, adorn yourself and seek solitude in a special place, where your voice will not be heard by others, and purify your mind and soul from all thoughts of this world, and imagine that during this time your soul departs from your body, and you die in this world, and become alive in the world to come, which is the source of all life that is dispersed inside every living creature, and this is the intellect, which is the source of all wisdom, understanding and consciousnesses, which appears in the image of the queen of queens, before whom all stand in great awe. And behold, the awe of one who understands is twofold, for it is the awe of ascension and the awe of love. And when your consciousness comes to cleave to the consciousness of s/he who gives you consciousness, your consciousness must remove from itself the yolk of all foreign consciousnesses, leaving only hir consciousness, which is shared by you and s/he, through the power of hir glorious and awesome name. | בשעה שתרצה להזכיר את השם הנכבד הזה החקוק למעלה בנקודו, קשט עצמך והתבודד במקום מיוחד, שלא יישמע קולך לזולתך, וטהר לבך ונפשך מכל מחשבות העולם הזה, וחשוב שבאותה שעה תפרד נפשך מגופך, ותמות מן העולם הזה ותחיה לעולם הבא, אשר הוא מקור החיים הנמצאים המפוזרים בכל חי, והוא השכל שהוא מקור כל חכמה ובינה ודעת, והוא בדמות מלך מלכים אשר הכל יראים ממנו יראה גדולה מאד. והנה יראת המשיג היא כפולה שהיא יראת מעלה ויראת אהבה. וכשבאה דעתך להדבק בדעתו הנותנת בך דעת, צריכה דעתך להסיר מעליה עול כל הדעות הזרות, זולת דעתו המשותפת בינך ובינו על פי שמו הנכבד והנורא. | *The stages described in the above text:* 1. You intend to encounter Y-H-V-H through the divine name. 2. You prepare yourself physically by appropriate clothing and self-seclusion. 3. You purify your heart (mind) and soul of thoughts of this world. 4. You die in this world and are born in the world to come. 5. You awaken to being (part of) all life, rather than only being one instance of life. 6. You discover that the source of life is also the source of consciousness. 7. You behold the source of all consciousness as a Queen Goddess. 8. You connect with Her through a perceiving of love and ascension. 9. You become aware that your own awareness is an instance of Her awareness. 10. You stop identifying with only your particular instance of awareness ("foreign consciousnesses") and begin to feel yourself to be the totality of all awareness, which you share with Her. 11. You and She become one through the power of the divine name. ## 6 Rambam ### 6.1 The Guide 2:36 - On the Quiddity of Prophecy CHAPTER 36 Know that the true reality and quiddity of prophecy consist in its being an overflow overflowing from God, may He be cherished and honored, through the intermediation of the Active Intellect, toward the rational faculty in the first place and thereafter toward the imaginative faculty. This is the highest degree of man and the ultimate term of perfection that [78a] can exist for his species; and this state is the ultimate term of perfection for the imaginative faculty. This is something that cannot by any means exist in every man. And it is not something that may be attained solely through perfection in the speculative sciences and through improvement of moral habits, even if all of them have become as fine and good as can be. There still is needed in addition the highest possible degree of perfection of the imaginative faculty in respect of its original natural disposition. ### 6.2 The Guide 3:51 - The Nature and Purpose of Torah Practice <p dir="ltr">This chapter that we bring now does not include additional matter over and above what is comprised in the other chapters of this Treatise. It is only a kind of a conclusion, at the same time explaining the worship as practiced by one who has apprehended the true realities peculiar only to Him after he has obtained an apprehension of what He is; and it also guides him toward achieving this worship, which is the end of man, and makes known to him how providence watches over him in this habitation until he is brought over to the <em>bundle of life</em>.<sup>1</sup></p> <p dir="ltr">I shall begin the discourse in this chapter with a parable that I shall compose for you. I say then: The ruler is in his palace, and all his subjects are partly within the city and partly outside the city. Of those who are within the city, some have turned their backs upon the ruler’s habitation, their faces being turned another way. Others seek to reach the ruler’s habitation, turn toward it, and desire to enter it and to stand before him, but up to now they have not yet seen the wall of the habitation. Some of those who seek to reach it have come up to the habitation and walk around it searching for its gate. Some of them have entered the gate and walk about in the antechambers. Some of them have entered the inner court of the habitation and have come to be with the king, in one and the same place with him, namely, in the ruler’s habitation. But their having come into the inner part of the habitation does not mean that they see the ruler or speak to him. For after their coming into the inner part of the habitation, it is indispensable that they should make another effort; then they will be in the presence of the ruler, see him from afar or from nearby, or [123b] hear the ruler’s speech or speak to him.</p> <p dir="ltr">Now I shall interpret to you this parable that I have invented. I say then: Those who are outside the city are all human individuals who have no doctrinal belief, neither one based on speculation nor one that accepts the authority of tradition: <del>such individuals as the furthermost Turks found in the remote North, the Negroes found in the remote South, and those who resemble them from among them that are with us in these climes. The status of those is like that of irrational animals. To my mind they do not have the rank of men, but have among the beings a rank lower than the rank of man but higher than the rank of the apes. For they have the external shape and lineaments of a man and a faculty of discernment that is superior to that of the apes.</del></p> <p dir="ltr">Those who are within the city, but have turned their backs upon the ruler’s habitation, are people who have opinions and are engaged in speculation, but who have adopted incorrect opinions either because of some great error that befell them in the course of their speculation or because of their following the traditional authority of one who had fallen into error. Accordingly because of these opinions, the more these people walk, the greater is their distance from the ruler’s habitation. And they are far worse than the first. They are those concerning whom necessity at certain times impels killing them and blotting out the traces of their opinions lest they should lead astray the ways of others.</p> <p dir="ltr">Those who seek to reach the ruler’s habitation and to enter it, but never see the ruler’s habitation, are the multitude of the adherents of the Law, I refer to <em>the ignoramuses who observe the commandments</em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Those who have come up to the habitation and walk around it are the jurists who believe true opinions on the basis of traditional authority and study the law concerning the practices of divine service, but do not engage in speculation concerning the fundamental principles of religion and make no inquiry whatever regarding [124a] the rectification of belief.</p> <p dir="ltr">Those who have plunged into speculation concerning the fundamental principles of religion, have entered the antechambers. People there indubitably have different ranks. He, however, who has achieved demonstration, to the extent that that is possible, of everything that may be demonstrated; and who has ascertained in divine matters, to the extent that that is possible, everything that may be ascertained; and who has come close to certainty in those matters in which one can only come close to it — has come to be with the ruler in the inner part of the habitation.</p> <p dir="ltr">Know, my son, that as long as you are engaged in studying the mathematical sciences and the art of logic, you are one of those who walk around the house searching for its gate, as [the Sages], <em>may their memory be blessed</em>, have said resorting to a parable: <em>Ben Zoma is still outside</em>.<sup>2</sup> If, however, you have understood the natural things, you have entered the habitation and are walking in the antechambers. If, however, you have achieved perfection in the natural things and have understood divine science, you have entered in the ruler’s place <em>into the inner court</em> and are with him in one habitation. This is the rank of the men of science; they, however, are of different grades of perfection.</p> <p dir="ltr">There are those who set their thought to work after having attained perfection in the divine science, turn wholly toward God, may He be cherished and held sublime, renounce what is other than He, and direct all the acts of their intellect toward an examination of the beings with a view to drawing from them proof with regard to Him, so as to know His governance of them in whatever way it is possible. These people are those who are present in the ruler’s council. This is the rank of the prophets. Among them there is he<sup>3</sup> who because of the greatness of his apprehension and his renouncing everything that is other than God, may He be exalted, has attained such a degree that it is said of him, <em>And he was there with the Lord</em>,<sup>4</sup> putting questions and receiving answers, speaking and being spoken to, in that holy place. And because of his great joy [124b] in that which he apprehended, <em>he did neither eat bread nor drink water</em>.<sup>5</sup> For his intellect attained such strength that all the gross faculties in the body ceased to function. I refer to the various kinds of the sense of touch. Some prophets could only see, some of them from close by and some from afar, as [a prophet] says: <em>From afar the Lord appeared unto me</em>.<sup>6</sup> The various degrees of prophecy have already been discussed by us.<sup>7</sup> Let us now return to the subject of this chapter, which is to confirm men in the intention to set their thought to work on God alone after they have achieved knowledge of Him, as we have explained. This is the worship peculiar to those who have apprehended the true realities; the more they think of Him and of being with Him, the more their worship increases.</p> <p dir="ltr">As for someone who thinks and frequently mentions God, without knowledge, following a mere imagining or following a belief adopted because of his reliance on the authority of somebody else, he is to my mind outside the habitation and far away from it and does not in true reality mention or think about God. For that thing which is in his imagination and which he mentions in his speech<sup>8</sup> does not correspond to any being at all and has merely been invented by his imagination, as we have explained in our discourse concerning the attributes.<sup>9</sup> This kind of worship ought only to be engaged in after intellectual conception has been achieved. If, however, you have apprehended God and His acts in accordance with what is required by the intellect, you should afterwards engage in totally devoting yourself to Him, endeavor to come closer to Him, and strengthen the bond between you and Him — that is, the intellect. Thus it says: <em>Unto thee it was shown, that thou mightest know that the Lord, and so on;</em><sup>10</sup> and it says: <em>Know this day</em>, <em>and lay it to thy heart, and so on;</em><sup>11</sup> and it says: <em>Know ye that the Lord He is God</em>.<sup>12</sup> The <em>Torah</em> has made it clear that this last worship to which we have drawn attention in this chapter can only be engaged in after apprehension has been achieved; [125a] it says: <em>To love the Lord your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul</em>.<sup>13</sup> Now we have made it clear several times<sup>14</sup> that love is proportionate to apprehension. After <em>love</em> comes this worship to which attention has also been drawn by [the Sages], <em>may their memory be blessed</em>, who said: <em>This is the worship in the heart</em>.<sup>15</sup> In my opinion it consists in setting thought to work on the first intelligible and in devoting oneself exclusively to this as far as this is within one’s capacity. Therefore you will find that <em>David</em> exhorted <em>Solomon</em> and fortified him in these two things, I mean his endeavor to apprehend Him and his endeavor to worship Him after apprehension has been achieved. He said: <em>And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father and serve Him, and so on. If thou seek Him, He will be found of thee, and so on</em>.<sup>16</sup> The exhortation always refers to intellectual apprehensions, not to imagination; for thought concerning imaginings is not called <em>knowledge</em> but <em>that which cometh into your mind</em>.<sup>17</sup> Thus it is clear that after apprehension, total devotion to Him and the employment of intellectual thought in constantly loving Him should be aimed at. Mostly this is achieved in solitude and isolation. Hence every excellent man stays frequently in solitude and does not meet anyone unless it is necessary.</p> <p dir="ltr">A call to attention. We have already made it clear to you<sup>18</sup> that that intellect which overflowed from Him, may He be exalted, toward us is the bond between us and Him. You have the choice: if you wish to strengthen and to fortify this bond,<sup>19</sup> you can do so; if, however, you wish gradually to make it weaker and feebler until you cut it, you can also do that. You can only strengthen this bond by employing it in loving Him and in progressing toward this, just as we have explained. And it is made weaker and feebler if you busy your thought with what is other than He. Know that even if you were the man who knew most the true reality of the divine science, you would cut that bond existing between you and God if you would empty your thought [125b] of God and busy yourself totally in eating the necessary or in occupying yourselves with the necessary. You would not be with Him then, nor He with you. For that relation between you and Him is actually broken off at that time. It is for this reason that excellent men begrudge the times in which they are turned away from Him by other occupations and warn against this, saying: <em>Do not let God be absent from your thought</em>.<sup>20</sup> And <em>David</em> says: <em>I have set the Lord always before me;</em> <em>because He is at my right hand, I shall not bend down;</em><sup>21</sup> he means to say: I do not empty my thought of Him, and it is as if He were my right hand from which, because of the rapidity of its motion, my attention is not distracted even for an instant, and therefore I do not bend down — that is, I do not fall.</p> <p dir="ltr">Know that all the practices of the worship, such as reading the <em>Torah</em>, prayer, and the performance of the other <em>commandments</em>, have only the end of training you to occupy yourself with His commandments, may He be exalted, rather than with matters pertaining to this world; you should act as if you were occupied with Him, may He be exalted, and not with that which is other than He. If, however, you pray merely by moving your lips while facing a wall, and at the same time think about your buying and selling; or if you read the <em>Torah</em> with your tongue while your heart is set upon the building of your habitation and does not consider what you read; and similarly in all cases in which you perform a <em>commandment</em> merely with your limbs — as if you were digging a hole in the ground or hewing wood in the forest — without reflecting either upon the meaning of that action or upon Him from whom the commandment proceeds or upon the end of the action, you should not think that you have achieved the end. Rather you will then be similar to those of whom it is said: <em>Thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins</em>.<sup>22</sup></p> <p dir="ltr">From here on I will begin to give you guidance with regard to the form of this training so that you should achieve this great end. The first thing that you should cause your soul to hold fast onto is [126a] that, while <em>reciting</em> the <em>Shema</em>ʿ prayer, you should empty your mind of everything and pray thus. You should not content yourself with <em>being intent</em> while <em>reciting the first verse of Shema</em>ʿ and saying <em>the first benediction</em>. When this has been carried out correctly and has been practiced consistently for years, cause your soul, whenever you read or listen to the <em>Torah</em>, to be constantly directed — the whole of you and your thought — toward reflection on what you are listening to or reading. When this too has been practiced consistently for a certain time, cause your soul to be in such a way that your thought is always quite free of distraction and gives heed to all that you are reading of the other discourses of the prophets<sup>23</sup> and even when you read all the <em>benedictions</em>, so that you aim at meditating on what you are uttering and at considering its meaning. If, however, while performing these acts of worship, you are free from distraction and not engaged in thinking upon any of the things pertaining to this world, cause your soul — after this has been achieved — to occupy your thought with things necessary for you or superfluous in your life, and in general with <em>worldly things</em>, while you eat or drink or bathe or talk with your wife and your small children, or while you talk with the common run of people. Thus I have provided you with many and long stretches of time in which you can think all that needs thinking regarding property, the governance of the household, and the welfare of the body. On the other hand, while performing the actions imposed by the Law, you should occupy your thought only with what you are doing, just as we have explained. When, however, you are alone with yourself and no one else is there and while you lie awake upon your bed, you should take great care during these precious times not to set your thought to work on anything other than that intellectual worship [126b] consisting in nearness to God and being in His presence in that true reality that I have made known to you and not by way of affections of the imagination. In my opinion this end can be achieved by those of the men of knowledge who have rendered their souls worthy of it by training of this kind.</p> <p dir="ltr">And there may be a human individual who, through his apprehension of the true realities and his joy in what he has apprehended, achieves a state in which he talks with people and is occupied with his bodily necessities while his intellect is wholly turned toward Him, may He be exalted, so that in his heart he is always in His presence, may He be exalted, while outwardly he is with people, in the sort of way described by the poetical parables that have been invented for these notions: <em>I sleep, but my heart waketh; it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, and so on</em>.<sup>24</sup> I do not say that this rank is that of all the prophets; but I do say that this is the rank of <em>Moses our Master</em>, of whom it is said: <em>And Moses alone shall come near unto the Lord; but they shall not come near;</em><sup>25</sup> and of whom it is said: <em>And he was there with the Lord;</em><sup>26</sup> and to whom it was said: <em>But as for thee, stand thou here by Me</em>.<sup>27</sup> All this according to what we have explained regarding the meaning of these <em>verses</em>.<sup>28</sup> This was also the rank of the <em>Patriarchs</em>, the result of whose nearness to Him, may He be exalted, was that His name became known to the world through them: <em>The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob . . .; this is My name for ever</em>.<sup>29</sup> Because of the union of their intellects through apprehension of Him, it came about that He made a lasting <em>covenant</em> with each of them: <em>Then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and so on</em>.<sup>30</sup> For in those four, I mean the <em>Patriarchs</em> and <em>Moses our Master</em>, union with God — I mean apprehension of Him and love of Him — became manifest, as the texts testify. Also the providence of God watching over them and over their posterity was great. Withal they were occupied with governing people, increasing their fortune, [127a] and endeavoring to acquire property. Now this is to my mind a proof that they performed these actions with their limbs only, while their intellects were constantly in His presence, may He be exalted. It also seems to me that the fact that these four were in a permanent state of extreme perfection in the eyes of God, and that His providence watched over them continually even while they were engaged in increasing their fortune — I mean while they tended their cattle, did agricultural work, and governed their household — was necessarily brought about by the circumstance that in all these actions their end was to come near to Him, may He be exalted; and how near! For the end of their efforts during their life was to bring into being a religious community that would know and worship God. <em>For I have known him, to the end that he may command, and so on</em>.<sup>31</sup> Thus it has become clear to you that the end of all their efforts was to spread the doctrine of <em>the unity of the Name in the world</em> and to guide people to love Him, may He be exalted. Therefore this rank befitted them, for these actions were pure worship of great import. This rank is not a rank that, with a view to the attainment of which, someone like myself may aspire for guidance.<sup>32</sup> But one may aspire to attain that rank which was mentioned before this one through the training that we described. One must beseech God that He remove the obstructions that separate us from Him, even though most of them come from us, as we have explained in certain chapters of this Treatise:<sup>33</sup> <em>Your iniquities have separated between you and your God</em>.<sup>34</sup></p> 1. Cf. I Sam. 25:29. According to the commentators, these words refer to eternal life. 2. B.T., Ḥagigah, 15a. 3. Or: there are those. 4. Exod. 34:28. 5. Exod. 34:28. 6. Jer. 31:3. 7. Cf. II 45. 8. Literally: in his mouth. 9. Cf. I 50. 10. Deut. 4:35. 11. Deut. 4:39. 12. Ps. 100:3. 13. Deut. 11:13. 14. Cf. I 39 and III 28. 15. B.T., Taʿanith, 2a; J.T., Berakhoth, IV. 16. I Chron. 28:9. 17. Ezek. 20:32. 18. Cf. II 12 and 37. 19. I.e., the intellect. 20. B.T., Shabbath, 149a. 21. Ps. 16:8. 22. Jer. 12:2. 23. I.e., not only of the Torah. 24. Song of Songs 5:2. 25. Exod. 24:2. 26. Exod. 34:28. 27. Deut. 5:28. 28. Cf. I 13, II 32, III 51 above. 29. Exod. 3:15. The Hebrew expression translated: for ever, may also mean: for the world. 30. Lev. 26:42. 31. Gen. 18:19. 32. The Arabic phrase can have two meanings: (a) Someone like myself cannot aspire to be guided with a view to achieving this rank; (b) Someone like myself cannot aspire to guide others with a view to their achieving this rank. 33. Cf., e.g., III 12. 34. Isa. 59:2. ### 6.3 The Guide 2:45 on the Spirit of God <p class="ctl" dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: David, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-IL">THE FIRST DEGREE</span></span></p> <p class="ctl" dir="ltr"><a name="ipt2ch45en5"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en6"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en7"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en8"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en9"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en10"></a><a name="page_397"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en11"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en12"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en13"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en14"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en15"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en16"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en17"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en18"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en19"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en20"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en21"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en22"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en23"></a> <span lang="en-IL">The first of the degrees of prophecy consists in the fact that an individual receives<a><sup>5</sup></a> a divine help that moves and activates him to a great, righteous, and important action — such as the deliverance of a community of virtuous people from a community of wicked people, or the deliverance of a virtuous and great man, or the conferring of benefits<a><sup>6</sup></a> on numerous people. The individual in question finds in himself something [93b] that moves and incites him to the action, and that is called <em>the spirit of the Lord</em>. And it is said of the individual who was in such a state that <em>the spirit of the Lord came upon him</em>,<a><sup>7</sup></a> or that <em>the spirit of the Lord clothed him</em>,<a><sup>8</sup></a> or that <em>the spirit of the Lord rested upon him</em>,<a><sup>9</sup></a> or that <em>the Lord was with him;</em><a><sup>10</sup></a> or other similar expressions are applied to him. This is the grade of all the <em>judges of Israel</em> of whom it is said in general that: <em>And when the Lord raised them up judges</em>, <em>then the Lord was with the judge</em>, <em>and delivered them</em>.<a><sup>11</sup></a> This is also the grade of all the virtuous <em>Messiahs</em><a><sup>12</sup></a> <em>of Israel</em>. This is made clear especially with regard to some <em>judges</em> and <em>kings: Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah</em>.<a><sup>13</sup></a> And it is said of <em>Samson: And the spirit of the Lord came upon him</em>.<a><sup>14</sup></a> And it is said: <em>And the spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard</em> [<em>those</em>] <em>tidings</em>.<a><sup>15</sup></a> Similarly it is said of <em>Amasai</em> when <em>the Holy Spirit</em> moved him to help <em>David: Then the spirit clothed Amasai who was chief of the captains: Thine are we</em>, <em>David</em>, <em>and on thy side</em>, <em>thou son of Jesse; peace</em>, <em>and so on</em>.<a><sup>16</sup></a> Know that such a force did not abandon <em>Moses our Master</em> from the moment he reached a man’s estate. It was because of this that he was moved to slay the <em>Egyptian</em> and to reprove the one who was in the wrong among the two men that struggled.<a><sup>17</sup></a> The strength of this force in him shows in the fact that when — after having been filled with fear and having fled — he came to <em>Midian</em> as a stranger full of fear and saw some wrong that was done, he could not refrain from putting an end to it and was incapable of patience with regard to it, as it says: <em>But Moses stood up and helped them</em>.<a><sup>18</sup></a> <em>David</em> likewise possessed<a><sup>19</sup></a> such a force after <em>being anointed with the oil of anointment</em>. Accordingly the text says: <em>And the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward</em>.<a><sup>20</sup></a> And it was for this reason that he attacked the <em>lion</em>, the <em>bear</em>, and the <em>Philistine</em>. Such a <em>spirit of the Lord</em> by no means caused one of these to speak of anything; rather its object was to move the one strengthened<a><sup>21</sup></a> by it to a certain action: not to any [94a] chance action, but to an action that succors a wronged one — whether it be one great man or a community — or to an action that leads to that result. And just as not everyone who has seen a veridical dream is a prophet, not everyone who has received [divine] help<a><sup>22</sup></a> in some chance matter — such as the acquisition of property or the achievement of an end that concerns him alone — can be said to have been accompanied by <em>the spirit of the Lord</em>, or to have <em>the Lord with him</em>, or to have done what he has done <em>through the Holy Spirit</em>. We only say this about one who has performed a good action of capital import or an action that leads to that result; as, for instance, <em>the success of Joseph in the house of the Egyptian</em>,<a><sup>23</sup></a> which was, as is clear, the first cause for great things that occurred afterwards.</span></p> 5. More or less literally: is accompanied by. 6. Literally: making good overflow. 7. Cf. Judg. 14:6 and 19; I Sam. 10:6; 16:13. 8. Cf. Judg. 6:34; I Chron. 12:19; II Chron. 24:20. 9. Cf. Num. 11:25–26; Isa. 11:2. 10. Cf. Judg. 2:18; I Sam. 3:19; 18:12. 11. Judg. 2:18. 12. Or: _anointed_ 13. Judg. 11:29. 14. Judg. 14:19. 15. I Sam. 11:6. 16. I Chron. 12:19. 17. Cf. Exod. 2:11–13. 18. Exod. 2:17. 19. Literally: was accompanied by. 20. I Sam. 16:13. 21. _al-muʾayyad_. The term is habitually applied to one who has received divine inspiration and help. 22. More or less literally: who has been accompanied by help. 23. Cf. Gen. 39:2. <p class="ctl" dir="ltr"><a name="page_398"></a><span lang="en-IL">THE SECOND DEGREE</span></p> <p class="ctl" dir="ltr"><a name="ipt2ch45en24"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en25"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en26"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en27"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en28"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en29"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en30"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en31"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en32"></a><a name="page_399"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en33"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en34"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en35"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en36"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en37"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en38"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en39"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en40"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en41"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en42"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en43"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en44"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en45"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en46"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en47"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en48"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en49"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en50"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en51"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en52"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en53"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en54"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en55"></a><a name="ipt2ch45en56"></a> <span lang="en-IL">It consists in the fact that an individual finds that a certain thing has descended upon him and that another<a><sup>24</sup></a> force has come upon him and has made him speak; so that he talks in wise sayings, in words of praise, in useful admonitory dicta, or concerning governmental or divine matters — and all this while he is awake and his senses function as usual. Such an individual is said to <em>speak through the Holy Spirit</em>. It is through this kind of <em>Holy Spirit</em> that <em>David</em> composed <em>Psalms</em>, and <em>Solomon Proverbs</em> and <em>Ecclesiastes</em> and <em>Song of Songs. Daniel</em> and <em>Job</em> and <em>Chronicles</em> and all the other <em>Writings</em><a><sup>25</sup></a> have likewise been composed through this kind of <em>Holy Spirit</em>. For this reason people call them <em>Writings</em>, meaning thereby that they are <em>written through the Holy Spirit</em>. [The Sages] have stated explicitly that <em>the scroll of Esther was spoken through the Holy Spirit</em>.<a><sup>26</sup></a> It is of this kind of <em>Holy Spirit</em> that <em>David</em> has said: <em>The spirit of the Lord spoke by me</em>, <em>and His word was upon my tongue;</em><a><sup>27</sup></a> he meant that it caused him to speak the words in question. [94b] It was to this group that the <em>seventy elders</em> belonged, of whom it is said: <em>And it came to pass</em>, <em>that</em>, <em>when the spirit rested upon them</em>, <em>they prophesied</em>, <em>but they did so no more</em>.<a><sup>28</sup></a> <em>Eldad</em> and <em>Medad</em> and every <em>High Priest who was questioned through the Urim and Thummim</em> also belong to this group; I mean to say that as [the Sages] have mentioned: <em>The Indwelling rests upon him</em>, <em>and he speaks through the Holy Spirit</em>.<a><sup>29</sup></a> <em>Yaḥaziel</em>, <em>son of Zechariah</em>, likewise belongs to this group, as it is he of whom it is said in <em>Chronicles: The spirit of the Lord came upon him in the midst of the congregation; and he said: Hearken ye</em>, <em>all Judah</em>, <em>and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem</em>, <em>and thou king Jehoshaphat. Thus saith the Lord unto you</em>, <em>and so on</em>.<a><sup>30</sup></a> So does <em>Zechariah</em>, <em>son of Jehoiada the priest</em>, belong to this group, for it is said of him: <em>And the spirit of God clothed Zechariah</em>, <em>son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people</em>, <em>and said unto them; Thus saith God</em>.<a><sup>31</sup></a> Similarly, <em>Azariah</em>, <em>son of Oded</em>, of whom it is said: <em>And the spirit of God came upon Azariah</em>, <em>son of Oded; and he went out to meet Asa</em>, <em>and so on</em>.<a><sup>32</sup></a> The same applies to all those of whom something similar is said. Know too that <em>Balaam</em>, when he was righteous, also belonged to this kind. This is the meaning that it intends to convey in the dictum: <em>And the Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth</em>.<a><sup>33</sup></a> It is as if it said that <em>he spoke through the Holy Spirit</em>. It is for this reason that [Balaam] says of himself, <em>who heareth the words of God</em>.<a><sup>34</sup></a> One of the things to which we must draw attention is that <em>David</em> and <em>Solomon</em> and <em>Daniel</em> belong to this group and not to that of <em>Isaiah</em> and <em>Jeremiah</em> and <em>Nathan the prophet</em> and <em>Aḥijah the Shilonite</em> and men similar to them. For they — I mean <em>David</em> and <em>Solomon</em> and <em>Daniel</em> — spoke and said what they said <em>through the Holy Spirit</em>. As for <em>David’s</em> dictum, <em>The God of Israel said</em>, <em>the Rock of Israel spoke to me</em>,<a><sup>35</sup></a> it means that [God] gave him a promise through the instrumentality of a prophet, either through <em>Nathan</em> or somebody else; as in the case when it is said:<a><sup>36</sup></a> <em>And the Lord said unto her;</em><a><sup>37</sup></a> and as in the case when it is said: <em>Wherefore the Lord said</em> [95a] <em>unto Solomon: Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept My covenant</em><a><sup>38</sup></a> — a dictum that indubitably gives expression to an announcement of future ill<a><sup>39</sup></a> made through the instrumentality of the prophet <em>Aḥijah the Shilonite</em> or somebody else. Similarly the dictum concerning <em>Solomon: In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said</em>, <em>and so on</em>,<a><sup>40</sup></a> is not pure prophecy like the one mentioned in the verse: <em>The word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision</em>, <em>saying</em>,<a><sup>41</sup></a> or like the one mentioned in the verse: <em>And God spoke unto Israel in the visions of the night</em>,<a><sup>42</sup></a> or like the prophecies of <em>Isaiah</em> and <em>Jeremiah</em>. For even if prophetic revelation came to each of the latter <em>in a dream</em>, every one of them was informed through that same prophetic revelation that this was a prophecy and that prophetic revelation had come to him; whereas in this story about <em>Solomon</em> it says at the end: <em>And Solomon awoke</em>, <em>and</em>, <em>behold</em>, <em>it was a dream;</em><a><sup>43</sup></a> and similarly in the second story it says: <em>The Lord appeared to Solomon the second time</em>, <em>as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon;</em><a><sup>44</sup></a> this makes it clear that it was a <em>dream</em>. This grade is below the one of which it is said: <em>I do speak with him in a dream</em>.<a><sup>45</sup></a> For those who prophesy <em>in a dream</em>, by no means call this state a <em>dream</em> after prophecy has come to them <em>in a dream</em>, but state decidedly that it was a prophetic revelation. Thus <em>Jacob our Father;</em> for after he had awakened from his <em>prophetic dream</em>, he did not say that it was a <em>dream</em>, but stated decidedly: <em>Surely the Lord is in this place, and so on</em>.<a><sup>46</sup></a> And he also said: <em>God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan;</em><a><sup>47</sup></a> he thus decided that that was a prophetic revelation. Whereas with regard to <em>Solomon</em>, it says: <em>And Solomon awoke</em>, <em>and</em>, <em>behold</em>, <em>it was a dream</em>. Similarly you will find that <em>Daniel</em> applies to them the expression “dreams,” even though he saw an angel in those dreams and heard words spoken in them. He calls them dreams even after he has received knowledge through them. Thus it says: <em>Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a vision of the night</em>.<a><sup>48</sup></a> It also says: <em>Then he wrote the dream</em>, <em>and so on;</em><a><sup>49</sup></a> <em>I saw in my vision by night</em>, <em>and so on;</em><a><sup>50</sup></a> <em>And the visions of</em> [95b] <em>my head affrighted me</em>.<a><sup>51</sup></a> And he says: <em>And I was appalled at the vision</em>, <em>but understood it not</em>.<a><sup>52</sup></a> There is no doubt that this grade is below the grade of those of whom it is said: <em>I do speak with him in a dream</em>.<a><sup>53</sup></a> For this reason the nation<a><sup>54</sup></a> has reached a consensus to put the <em>book of Daniel</em> among the <em>Writings</em>,<a><sup>55</sup></a> and not among the <em>Prophets</em>. For this reason I called your attention to the fact that in the kind of prophecy that came to <em>Daniel</em> and <em>Solomon</em>, they did not discover in their souls — even though they saw <em>an angel in a dream</em> — that this was a pure prophecy, but rather that this was a <em>dream</em> communicating the true reality of certain matters. This is characteristic of the group of people who speak <em>through the Holy Spirit</em>. This is the second degree. Similarly, when arranging the <em>Holy Scriptures</em>, they<a><sup>56</sup></a> made no difference between <em>Proverbs</em> and <em>Ecclesiastes</em> and <em>Daniel</em> and <em>Psalms</em>, on one hand, and the <em>Scroll of Ruth</em> or the <em>Scroll of Esther</em> on the other; <em>all of them have been written through the Holy Spirit</em>. Also all these are called, in a general way, prophets.</span></p> 24. I.e., as it seems, a force different from the one discussed by Maimonides when speaking of the first degree of prophecy. 25. The Hebrew Bible is divided into the Torah or Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Writings or Hagiographa (Ketubim). 26. B.T., Megillah, 7a. 27. II Sam. 23:2. 28. Num. 11:25. 29. B.T., Yoma, 73b. 30. II Chron. 20:14–15. 31. II Chron. 24:20. 32. II Chron. 15:1–2. 33. Num. 23:5. 34. Num. 24:4. 35. II Sam. 23:3. 36. Gen. 25:23. 37. To Rebekah. 38. I Kings 11:11. 39. The literal meaning of the word used is “a promise of ill.” 40. I Kings 3:5. 41. Gen. 15:1. 42. Gen. 46:2. 43. I Kings 3:15. 44. I Kings 9:2. 45. Num. 12:6. 46. Gen. 28:16. 47. Gen. 48:3. 48. Dan. 2:19. 49. Dan. 7:1. 50. Dan. 7:2. 51. Dan. 7:15. 52. Dan. 8:27. 53. Num. 12:6. 54. Or: religious community. 55. Cf. n. 25, this chap. 56. The ones who did this. ## 7 Additional Sources ### 7.1 Jewish Study Bible on The Phenomenon of Prophecy *by Marc Zvi Brettler in the Jewish Study Bible* (Introduction to Neviim) **The Phenomenon of Prophecy** The phenomenon of prophecy was known in the ancient Near East, and many important themes and genres familiar from biblical prophecy have parallels there. It should be viewed as part of a larger belief in that area that the deity’s will is accessible in the world, either through omen interpretation, as was typical in Mesopotamia, or through prophecy, the preferred method in Israel. Contrary to popular perception, the prophets were not predominantly forecasters of the future, ancient fortune-tellers. Rather, they were intermediaries between God and the people, spokesmen, and had a crucial role in critiquing and trying to change society to bring it in line with God’s commandments. Predictions of doom and destruction were intended to get Israel to repent and change its behavior. But when it seemed that Israel had gone too far, and must be punished (see esp. Jer. ch 25), the main role of the prophet was to assure the nation that their punishment, which derived from God, was deserved. Since in the canon the prophets follow the Torah, Jewish tradition typically reads the prophets as interpreters of the Torah, whose role was to make sure that the people adhered to the Torah. Protestant tradition, on the other hand, often emphasized the apparently antinomian tendencies in such prophecies as Isa 1.10–20 or Amos 5.21–25. Neither of these views is correct from a scholarly perspective. Critical biblical scholarship has ascertained that the Torah and Prophets developed simultaneously from a chronological perspective; thus, not all prophets knew all the Torah since the Torah had not yet been completed by the time that most of the prophets were active. The Protestant view is problematic because it ignores the fact that certain prophetic oracles are very interested in punctilious performance of particular ritual laws (see esp. Jer 17.19–27). Furthermore, a close reading of prophets such as Isaiah or Amos suggests that they are not anti-law or anti-Temple, but are rhetorically emphasizing that ritual behavior alone, without proper moral behavior, is insufficient to assure divine blessing. Many more prophets were active in ancient Israel and Judah than those whose work is represented in the prophetic books of the Bible, and their activities were more varied than these writings suggest. The books of Samuel and Kings provide important additional information. Since our sources are limited, it is difficult to reconstruct the history of prophecy. Some of the features are clear, however. The prophet was essentially an intermediary between God and the people, and one of the major functions was that of messenger (Heb malʾakh). Often prophets introduced their communications with a version of the formula typically used by messengers, “thus says the Lord.” But prophets might also carry inquiries from the people to God or make intercession on behalf of the people. In contrast to the priesthood, which was exclusively male, both women and men could be prophets. Women prophets included Deborah (Judg. 4.4) and Huldah (2 Kings 22.14); see also Joel 1.3. Additional aspects of the prophetic role are suggested by the various terms used to identify them. In addition to “prophet” (Heb naviʾ, perhaps meaning “one who is called”), the prophets are identified as seers (Heb roʾeh), visionaries (Heb ḥozeh), and holy men (Heb ʾish ʾelohim, lit. “man of God”). It is uncertain if these different titles reflect different types of prophets. The religious phenomenon of Israelite prophecy can be traced for more than a thousand years, from the premonarchical period to the turn of the era. Over such a long period of time the nature and function of prophecy altered in response to changing historical, social, and religious circumstances. One may divide the development of prophecy loosely into four periods, although this division is not absolute : the early monarchical period (11th through 9th centuries), the Assyrian crisis (8th c.), the Babylonian crisis (late 7th through early 6th centuries), and the postexilic restoration (mid-6th through mid-5th centuries). In the earliest period prophets may have been local or itinerant men and women who were revered for their special religious powers and who might be consulted on a variety of private matters, from locating lost property (1 Sam. 9.1–10) to learning whether a sick child would live or die (1 Kings 14.1–18). Some lived in prophetic communities which cultivated ecstatic forms of religious experience (1 Sam. 19.18–24; 2 Kings 6.1–7); these are called “sons of (the) prophets” in the sense of members of prophetic guilds. Prophets also had the public function of declaring God’s will concerning whether the people should go to war (Judg 4.4–10). The emergence of the monarchy in ancient Israel may have changed aspects of the prophets’ role. Prophets appear as king-makers and king-breakers, as they announce that God has designated an individual to become king or has rejected a reigning king (1 Sam. 10.1; 15.23; 1 Kings 11.29–39; 14.1–18). Though prophets continued their role in advising about matters of war (1 Kings ch 22), they also served as critics of the king in religious and social affairs. The consolidation of royal power and the foreign religious practices introduced through royal marriages often threatened older tribal institutions and values. The conflict between Elijah, the prophet, and Ahab and Jezebel, the king and queen, illustrates these tensions between prophet and king (1 Kings chs 18–21). Prophecy appears to have undergone a dramatic change during the 8th c., although this impression may be affected by the change in the nature of the sources of information. From the 8th c. onward collections of prophetic oracles are preserved, yet, with the exception of Jeremiah, few extended narratives about prophets exist. It does appear, however, that in this period prophets began to function less as private counselors and critics of kings and more as public figures who influenced opinion through their pronouncements in the Temple courts and in other public places. Prophets of the 8th c. (Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah) interpreted international affairs, critiqued complacent religious practices, and condemned the abuses of social justice that accompanied the increasing urbanization and centralization of state power characteristic of the 8th c. The prophetic careers of Hosea, Micah, and Isaiah took place in the shadow of the expansionist Assyrian empire, which eventually put an end to the Northern Kingdom of Israel and subjected Judah to the condition of vassalage. The prophets interpreted these events, however, in terms of the judgment of the Lord, not simply as the success of a powerful Assyrian empire. This perspective allowed Isaiah, for example, to anticipate the ultimate downfall of Assyria because of its overweening arrogance. The third major period of prophecy occurred during the Babylonian crisis. The prophet Nahum celebrated the defeat of Assyria (612–609 bce), but the excitement he expressed was soon turned to confusion as Babylonia succeeded Assyria as the dominant empire (see the intro. and nn. to Habakkuk and the essay “History of Israel,” pp. 2107–19). Jeremiah’s prophetic career (ca. 627–586 bce) spanned the time from the decline of Assyria through the Babylonian overlordship of Judah, to the revolt and destruction of Judah and the exile of a portion of its population. Although it is difficult to correlate many of his poetic oracles with specific events in this period, the narratives about Jeremiah give a vivid picture of a nation and its leadership deeply conflicted about what political course to follow and the religious significance of the political choices that were forced upon it. Even the prophetic community was bitterly divided and gave contradictory advice to the king concerning the will of the Lord (Jer. chs 26–29, 36–44). Overlapping the career of Jeremiah, the prophet Ezekiel (active 593–ca. 571 bce) was among the Judeans exiled to Babylonia after the revolt of 597 bce, a decade before the final revolt and the destruction of Jerusalem. Ezekiel’s prophetic work was, first, to persuade the exiled Judeans of the inevitability of Jerusalem’s destruction, and to justify this event. Following the fall of the city, he began to articulate the theological grounds for conceiving a possible future, including a return of the exiles and a rebuilding of the destroyed Temple. In contrast to most of the prophets who preceded him, Ezekiel drew strongly on Priestly traditions for his categories of thought, forms of speech, and evocative symbols. The defeat of the Babylonian empire by the Persian king Cyrus in 539 bce altered political conditions dramatically. Although Judah did not regain its independence but became a part of the Persian empire, Cyrus and his successors authorized the rebuilding of the Temple and of Jerusalem, allowing members of the exiled community in Babylonia who so desired to return to Yehud, the name of the small Persian province that was formerly Judah. Thus the prophetic task during this period largely concerned the restoration of the community and its institutions in a context significantly different from that which prevailed during the Israelite and Judean monarchy. The anonymous prophet whose work is found in Isa. chs 40–55 (often called “Second Isaiah”) addressed the Babylonian exiles just at the time that Cyrus was engaged in the conquest of Babylonia. Second Isaiah had to persuade the exilic community that unfolding events represented God’s action in history, to interpret the significance of Cyrus (God’s “anointed” who would rebuild Jerusalem [44.28–45.1]), and to encourage the exiles to return to Jerusalem. The process of rebuilding the Temple (520–515 bce) provides the context for the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. Zechariah’s work in particular suggests this was a time of expectation that perhaps the Davidic monarchy might be restored, an event that did not occur. Issues concerning reorganization of the Judean community and tensions regarding economic justice, institutional corruption, and the boundaries of the community are variously reflected in Zechariah, Isa. chs 56–66 (sometimes called Trito-Isaiah), and Malachi, prophets who were active in roughly the period 525–475 bce. Although prophets in all periods might speak of the dramatic intervention of God in historical events and the consequent transformation of the conditions of life, this type of language seems to have become more common and more vivid in the postexilic prophets (e.g., Isa. chs 56–66, Zechariah, Malachi, Joel, and postexilic additions to earlier prophetic books, such as Isa. chs 24–27). Some of the passages anticipate a war or other cataclysmic event of cosmic proportions that will precede a time of deliverance, peace, and virtual re-creation of the world, themes associated with apocalypticism. Such imagery and the expectations it expresses suggest to some scholars that apocalypticism emerges out of postexilic prophecy. Though it is true that apocalyptic literature is influenced by these prophetic writings and their imagery, apocalyptic cannot simply be understood as an outgrowth of the phenomenon of prophecy. The book of Daniel, a prophetic book which is found in the Kethuvim (in Christian Bibles it is included among the prophets), is the only book in the Hebrew Bible that could be called an apocalypse. In the latter part of the book, Daniel is the recipient of visions which disclose the future. These vision reports do bear significant similarities to those found in Ezekiel and especially in Zechariah, though their almost allegorical style is quite different. Similarly, although general claims about God’s foreknowledge of historical events can be found in Second Isaiah, Daniel’s representation of history as predetermined both with respect to its epochal structure and its specific events is strikingly different from the representation of history by the prophets. A clue to the relationship of apocalyptic to prophecy may be found in Dan. ch 9, where Daniel is presented as studying the book of Jeremiah and receiving an angelic interpretation of its significance. As suggested by the representation of Daniel as a technically trained sage, the authors of apocalyptic books, many of which were produced in the Hellenistic period, were perhaps themselves learned scribes who studied and appropriated aspects of the prophetic tradition and combined them with other influences in their attempts to understand the nature of the cosmos and the course of history. The movement from receiving the prophetic word directly, as in the first three periods, to receiving it via an intermediary angel in the fourth period, and of understanding what God wants by studying earlier prophetic texts, would ultimately become responsible for the perception in the Second Temple period that prophecy as a living, core institution had died. With the canonization of God’s revelation in the form of the written books of the Bible, new revelations through prophets became superfluous. Prophecy was gradually replaced by scriptural study and interpretation, and prophets by scribes, sages, and rabbis. ### 7.2 Claude AI on Creation **Does Claude believe in God?** _I asked Claude AI about what God values based on the text we’ve studied. Here is what he/she/it said._ _Question: If we assume that creation in Genesis 1:1 - 2:3 is what God values, then can you give me a summary of what God values? 1. Order and structure: God creates in an orderly fashion, separating elements and establishing boundaries. 2. Light: God’s first creative act is to bring light into existence. 3. Diversity: God creates a variety of celestial bodies, plants, animals, and ecosystems. 4. Life: God creates living beings and commands them to be fruitful and multiply. 5. Productivity: God establishes cycles of day and night, seasons, and encourages growth. 6. Stewardship: Humans are given dominion over other creatures, implying responsible management. 7. Humanity: Humans are created in God’s image, suggesting a special value placed on human life. 8. Gender equality: Male and female are both created in God’s image. 9. Sustenance: God provides plants for food for both humans and animals. 10. Rest: God rests on the seventh day, establishing a pattern of work and rest. 11. Goodness: After each act of creation, God declares it “good,” indicating an appreciation for the inherent value of creation. 12. Completeness: The creation account ends with God seeing all that He had made as “very good,” suggesting He values wholeness and perfection in His creation This summary reflects what can be inferred about God’s values based solely on the creation account in Genesis 1:1-2:3, without incorporating broader theological interpretations or other biblical passages. _I think the emerging colors is one of the most beautiful and powerful aspects of the story of creation. I asked Claude to list for me the colors that would emerge during creation. This is what she/he/it said: The void, a deep, impenetrable black. Light bursts forth, not white, but warm golden rays. The sky, a pale blue, separating from the deep blue-green waters below. Dry land emerges, rich brown earth and tan sand. Vegetation sprouts: grass in shades of green, from pale to deep emerald. Trees with brown trunks and dark green leaves. The sun, a brilliant orange-yellow orb. The moon, a pale silver disc in the night sky. Stars, tiny points of white and yellow light. Waters teem with life: silvery fish, blue-gray whales, red coral. Birds soar: brown eagles, white seagulls, blue jays, and red cardinals. Land animals appear: tawny lions, dappled deer, russet foxes. Livestock with coats of brown, black, and white. Crawling creatures: earthy brown worms and green lizards. Humans formed from the reddish-brown clay of the earth. *It is interesting that the Tanakh itself doesn’t go into these colors. The Jewish Study Bible comments on this (from the Introduction):* Other ancient Near Eastern evocations of God’s (or the gods’) world-ordering activity, including many in the Bible itself (e.g., Ps. 104), provide high drama and graphic description of the events and their protagonists (even the Lord). Gen. 1.1–2.3, however, is utterly devoid of sensory detail. This eerie abstractness, combined with the highly schematic and formulaic structure of the narrative, conveys a sense of the awe-inspiring majesty and inviolable sovereignty of the God on whom the narrative is unswervingly focused. ### 7.3 Selections from Aryeh Kaplan, *Meditation and the Bible*, on Prophetic Practices ONE OF THE GREATEST MYSTERIES of the Bible involves the methods used by the prophets to attain their unique states of consciousness. Almost all of the Bible was authored by these prophets while in such higher states, but virtually nothing is known about how they were attained. In the actual text of the Bible, very little is said about the methods, and the few relevant passages that do exist are difficult to understand and require adequate interpretation. But unless their methods are known, it is difficult to put the teachings of the prophets of the Bible in their proper context, and consequently, many other concepts found in this sacred book are apt to be understood inadequately. [...] In general, there are two methods through which one can attain a mystical state or a higher level of consciousness, meditation and drugs. While some writers have tried to demonstrate that the prophets engaged in drug experiences, there is no objective evidence, either from the Biblical text or from the classical literature, that such substances were involved. [...] (From the Introduction) Many people consider the prophets of the Bible to be nothing more than spokesmen and agitators, who spoke out against the wrongs of their people and governments. What is not generally known is the fact that these prophets were among the greatest mystics of all times, actively engaged in the loftiest meditative techniques. The great spiritual power of the prophets is attested to by the force of their message, which after almost three thousand years, still influences a large segment of humanity. [...] The ability to focus spiritual energy was a task that took great discipline and many years of intensive training. The word that the Bible uses to describe the process of seeking prophecy is Hit-nave (), the reflexive (hit-pael) sense of the verb Nave, to prophesy. This literally means that the individual is “prophesying himself.” The meaning of this is that he is focusing spiritual energy into himself, trying to obtain a clear message while in a mystical state. Another way in which a prophet can focus spiritual power is when he causes others to attain a prophetic experience. A clear case of this occurs with regard to the seventy elders, when God told Moses, “I will distill from the spirit that is on you, and I will place it on them” (Numbers 11:17). A. similar idea is found in the case of King Saul's prophetic experience, where Samuel planned for a group of his disciples to focus prophetic energy on Saul. The scripture relates, “He came there to the plateau and saw a band of prophets coming toward him, and a spirit of God succeeded on him, and he prophesied among them” (1 Samuel 10:10). In the most striking such case, we actually find that people were forced into a prophetic state against their will. David had escaped King Saul's wrath, and had escaped to Samuel's academy in Ramah. The Bible relates, “Saul sent messengers to take David, but when they saw the company of prophets prophesying with Samuel standing over them, they also prophesied themselves” (1 Samuel 19:20). Note that the verse states that Samuel's group was “prophesying” (Nava) in a direct sense, indicating that they were transmitting and focusing prophetic energy on Saul's men. This in turn caused Saul's messengers to “prophesy themselves” (Mit-nave), in a reflexive sense, where they were overwhelmed by an inward-directed prophetic experience. (From Part II, Ch. 1). [...] Although no explicit discussion of the prophetic method is found in the Bible, there are enough hints through which a fairly accurate picture can be drawn. Besides this, there are a number of traditions, found in the Talmud and Kabbalah that help complete the picture. One important practice mentioned explicitly in the Bible was the use of music in order to help attain the prophetic state. A very clear example of this is found in the case of the prophet Elisha. The Bible relates that when he sought a prophetic message, he said, “‘Now bring me a musician.’ And it was when the musician played, and the hand of God came upon him” (2 Kings 3:15). Another good example can be found in the account of how Samuel inducted King Saul into the prophetic society. Samuel told Saul, “You shall meet a band of prophets, coming from a high place with harp, drum, flute and lyre, and they will be prophesying themselves” ( 1 Samuel 10:5). Through the power of the music, they were concentrating the prophetic energy into themselves in order to focus it. When they did so, they were able to make Saul prophesy as well. Finally, we find another explicit statement regarding Asaph, Hemen and Jeduthun, “Who would prophesy with the harp, lute and cymbol” (1 Chronicles 25:1). (From Part II, Ch. 4) [...] ### 7.4 Visualizing Creation by Shaiya Rothberg In the beginning, the spirit or breath or mind or consciousness of God, hovered over the deep waters in absolute darkness. Above the waters, as high as you can think, darkness. Below the waters, as deep as you can imagine, void and formlessness, and darkness. And then the spirit of God spoke saying Let there be light. And light filled the space that was before creation. Day One. Then God opened up a great tent by separating waters. God called the roof the tent the firmament, and it held up the waters of the heavens above. The bottom of the tent was still nothing but sea - and so the tent was a great space filled with air between the waters above and the waters below. The second day. Then God reached down and pressed at the bottom of the tent, creating depressions in the earth underneath the waters that formed the tent floor. And the waters gathered in these depressions, exposing dry land in between. And on the dry land, like a wizard casting a spell, God spoke plants of all shapes and colors into existence, and they covered the dry land at the bottom of the tent and reached up towards the toward the sky. The Third Day. And then, God gathered the light of creation, like you might collect a liquid in your hands, and poured the light into great luminaries of red, white and silver, and hung the luminaries from the top of tent, so that now the top half of the tent shined with the sun, the moon and the stars, while the bottom half of the tent radiated the life and color of the plants and trees below. The fourth day. Then God spoke fish and birds into existence, and blessed them with sex and reproduction, and they filled the waters at the bottom of the tent and the air under the luminaries above. The fifth day. And then God spoke animals and humans into existence and gave them a portion on the dry land. And God created humans in God’s own image, creatures of spirit and breath, mind and consciousness, but not hovering over the deep in darkness but rather embedded in flesh and blood inside a great tent of light, life, color and movement. And God blessed humans with sex and reproduction, and charged them with government, forbidding them to kill any creature with the breath of life. The sixth day. And then God rested in the completeness of creation. And resting too were the heavens with their sun, moon and stars, and also the earth with its plants, fish, birds, animals and humans. All things rested in completion on the Seventh Day. Imagine all of us today inside the tent of creation: you can see how the top of the tent holds up the blue waters of the heavens above, you can feel the firm earth of the dry land under your feet at the bottom of the tent below - and then there is the great space of the tent all around us - filled with air, water, earth and life , from the seas below to the luminaries above. Five silent breaths. When you’re ready, come back….. ## 8 Practices for Inviting Ruach Elohim 1. Hitbodedut 2. Music 3. Dreams 4. Neshimah (Breath) 5. Hazkarat Hashem and Tsiruf Otiyot 6. Dimyon: The Power of Imagination 7. Kriyah 8. Tefilah 9. Tefillin and Physical Rituals 10. Sunrise and Sunset: Consecrated Time 11. Wine and Sensual Rituals 12. Tikkun Olam: Kehilah, Medinah and Olam ## 9 States of Mind/Consciousness of Ruach Elohim > [!example] in•spi•ra•tion > > *n.* > **1.** an inspiring or animating action or influence. > **2.** something inspired, as an idea. > **3.** a result of inspired activity. > **4.** a thing or person that inspires. > **5.** _Theol._ a divine influence directly and immediately exerted upon the mind or soul. > **6.** the drawing of air into the lungs; inhalation. > **7.** the act of inspiring. > **8.** the quality or state of being inspired. > > Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 1. Literary Inspiration 2. Moral Inspiration 3. Musical Inspiration 4. Speaking in Ecstacy 5. Heshek (desire) and Spiritual Pleasure 6. The Anointing Oil 7. The Spaciousness of Yah 8. Zohar (Glow) 9. Buddha mind --- ## 10 Notes on Editions and Translations For Tanakh, unless otherwise noted, translations are the latest JPS editions available on Sefaria (mostly 2023, 2006, 1985). I have changed them here and there. The Guide to the Perplexed is translated by Shlomo Pines. Other translations are my own unless otherwise noted. Most texts are copied from www.sefaria.org. Thank you Sefaria! ## 11 Seder Limmud / Order of Study *The Order of Study appearing below is subject to changes depending on our pace and the interests of the group.* ### 11.1 Initial Exploration of the Spirit of God >[!tip] Talmud Torah / Study We will begin our exploration of the spirit of God with a *b'kiut* style overview of some of the central places that the spirit appears in the Tanakh. Read through all the selections from the Tanakh. We will come back to these sources for a closer reading later. For now, try to get a sense of what the spirit of God means in each source. ***Read the sections in [[#1 Mikra]]. You can skip the sections whose titles are in Italics*** After you've been through the biblical sources, try to put together an idea of the divine spirit that connects all of them together in a unified idea that makes some sense to you. Then ask yourself: In what ways is the spirit present in your experience? And in what ways is it absent? (It could be absent because it's a nice fantasy but you don't think it really exists, or because while you think it exists you don't have access to it for some reason.) >[!tip] Ma'aseh / Practice The Hebrew words for spirit like רוח ונשמה / ruach and neshamah can also mean breath. Your breath is an important gate of understanding for the divine spirit, both conceptually and practically. We will begin exploring the connections between your ruach and God's ruach through a discussion of the breath, with a suggested practice, as taught by R. Avraham Abulafia. ([[#5.1 Abulafia on the Breath]]) ### 11.2 The Spirit of God hovers over the Waters >[!tip] Talmud Torah / Study After we complete the overview of biblical sources, we will focus on the first source: The spirit of God hovering over the waters. ([[#1.1.1 Breshit 1 The Spirit of God over the Waters]]). We will explore the verse in light of later sources: The commentaries appearing in ([[#2.1 On The Spirit of God over the Waters (Breshit 1)]]) and the midrashim in ([[#3.1 Midrashim on Breshit 1 The Spirit of God over the Waters]]) How do these sources understand the spirit? How does this relate to the meanings you uncovered in the previous section? >[!tip] Ma'aseh / Practice We will continue to explore Rabbi Abulafia on the breath, reviewing what we saw last week, and adding Mizmor 150 to our discussion and practice ([[#1.3.1 *Tehillim Mizmor 150 Every Breath for Yah*]]). We'll use this Mizmor, and what R. Abulafia says about it, to get deeper into the breath. ([[#5.2 Abulafia on the Breath in Mizmor 150]]). ### 11.3 The Breath of Life >[!tip] Talmud Torah / Study In this section we will explore the breath of life ([[#1.1.2 Breshit 2 The Breath of Life]]). We'll also explore commentaries on this verse ([[#2.2 On Breshit 2 The breath of Life]]). We will explore how this idea plays out in Yehezkel ([[#1.2.7 Yehezkel 35 24-36 14 - The Vision of Dry Bones]]). >[!tip] Ma'aseh / Practice We will continue to explore Abulafia on the breath and his commentary on Mizmor 150 and Breshit 2:7. (See above) ### 11.4 The Rambam's Conception of the Spirit of God >[!tip] Talmud Torah / Study Maimonides defines different kinds of contact with the Spirit of God as constituting the first two levels of prophecy. His discussion touches on dozens of biblical references to the Spirit in the Tanakh. In this section, we will explore the Spirit of God through his eyes. ([[#6.3 The Guide 2 45 on the Spirit of God]]). >[!tip] Ma'aseh / Practice Maimonides provides one of the most explicit discussions of Jewish meditative practices. This discussion is part of his conception of Judaism as a philosophical-contemplative way of life. In this section, we will begin to explore and practice his approach. ([[#6.2 The Guide 3 51 - The Nature and Purpose of Torah Practice]]). We'll come back to it later for a closer reading. ### 11.5 The Spirit of God in Sefer Yetsirah >[!tip] Talmud Torah / Study Sefer Yetsirah, a mysterious book that appeared some time between the Second Temple and medieval Kabbalah, presents a kind of alternative or supplementary story of creation. It's account constitutes one of the most important sources of Jewish mystical tradition. The Spirit stands at the center of Sefer Yetsirah's account. In this section, we will explore the Spirit through the prism of Sefer Yetsirah. ([[#4.1 Sefer Yetsirah (1 1-2 3)]]) >[!tip] Ma'aseh / Practice Sefer Yetsirah may also be understood as a practical guide to Jewish meditation. If so, it is perhaps the first such guide in history. In this section, we will explore a practical mode of inviting the Spirit through Sefer Yetsirah. ([[#4.2 Activation of the Spirit using Sefer Yetsirah]]) ### 11.6 Envisioning Creation as the Telos of the Divine Spirit >[!tip] Talmud Torah / Study Breshit 1:1 - 2:4 describes the world God created. Following the initial scene we studied above, in which the spirit of God hovered over the deep and then God spoke light into existence, God erects a kind of tent. The sky is the top; it slopes down to form the horizon which are the sides of the tent, and at the bottom there is sea and land. It is a beautiful and inspiring perspective on the world. Academic consensus has it that the priestly authors of this text understood the tent of creation to be parallel to another tent: The *mishkan*, the tent of the divine indwelling in Israel. In this section, we will explore the spirit of God in the tent of creation. First, read this introduction to Breshit 1: [[#2.3 Jewish Study Bible's Introduction to Breshit (Jon D. Levenson)]]. Then read Breshit 1:1 - 2:4 in your favorite Bible (its not in the coursebook) through the prism of the introduction. Ask yourself: If creation was what God wanted, then what does God value? Jot down what you think you can deduce from creation about what God's goals were. Then, talk to Claude AI about it: [[#7.2 Claude AI on Creation]]. >[!tip] Ma'aseh / Practice We'll experiment with using the imagination as a tool to connect with the divine spirit by imagining creation. [[#7.4 Visualizing Creation]] ### 11.7 The Phenomenon of Prophecy >[!tip] Talmud Torah / Study Prophecy is one of the most characteristic expressions of the spirit of God in Tanakh. Let us begin to explore it through ([[#7.1 Jewish Study Bible on The Phenomenon of Prophecy]]) After getting some background, think about Moshe's prophecy ([[#1.1.4 *The Prophecy of Moses*]]) in light of what you learned. >[!tip] Ma'aseh / Practice We will begin to explore R. Abulafia's practical methodology for achieving his conception of prophecy in our own time. In this part of class here and below in subsequent classes we will continue to explore practices for inviting the spirit and the states of mind that it brings on. ([[#8 Practices for Inviting Ruach Elohim]]) and Section ([[#9 States of Mind/Consciousness of Ruach Elohim]]). *Additional subjects we will cover:* ### 11.8 Speaking in Ecstasy and the Children of the Prophets ### 11.9 Hitbodedut: Letting go of Individuality ### 11.10 An Evil Spirit from before God ### 11.11 Prophecy and Dehumanization: Yehoshua ### 11.12 Prophecy against Power: Yeshayahu ### 11.13 Visions of Redemption through the Spirit