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Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses
This is a study of the ancient Jewish and Christian apocalypses involving ascent into heaven, which have received little scholarly attention in comparison to apocalypses concerned primarily with the end of the world. Recent developments like the publication of the Aramaic Enoch fragments from Qumran and interest in questions of genre in the study of the apocalypses make this a particularly appropriate time to undertake this study. Martha Himmelfarb places the apocalypses in relation to both their biblical antecedents and their context in the Greco-Roman world. Her analysis emphasizes the emergence of the understanding of heaven as temple in the Book of the Watchers, the earliest of these apocalypses, and the way in which this understanding affects the depiction of the culmination of ascent, the hero's achievement of a place among the angels, in the ascent apocalypses generally. It also considers the place of secrets of nature and primeval history in these works. Finally, it
offers an interpretation of the pseudepigraphy of the apocalypses and their function.
offers an interpretation of the pseudepigraphy of the apocalypses and their function.
184 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1993
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February 10, 2023
I finally finished this. I loved it, with the exception of a few pages where it bogged down. This had so much depth, so much more that could be said. The footnotes are a gold mine if this is the sort of thing you want to research. I’m definitely going to read four or five more of her works.
Warning - spoilers abound in this review
Martha Himmelfarb's book "Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses" provides a study of the themes of ascent to heaven and the vision of the heavenly temple in Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature. Her assertions and arguments in the book focus on the significance of these themes in the development of early Jewish and Christian beliefs and practices. She argues that the ascents of the apocalypses are best understood as instances of “rapture,” and that these ascents were at the instigation of God rather than through the initiate memorizing a text or trying to make the visionary experience happen on their own initiative (p. 5).
Himmelfarb sees these texts as evidence that the religious people that read and kept them believed that the initiate or visionary achieved “angelic status,” something that is “central to these apocalypses” (p. 7). Himmelfarb explains what she terms as apocalypses:
“The Book of the Watchers, the Testament of Levi, 2 Enoch, the Similitudes of Enoch (1 Enoch 37-71), The Apocalypse of Zephaniah, the Apocalypse of Abraham, the Ascension of Isaiah, and 3 Baruch.” (p. 7).
Himmelfarb argues that the vision of the heavenly temple was not necessarily a rejection of the earthly temple, but rather an expansion of it, with the heavenly temple serving as a model for the worship and religious practices of the faithful. She also states that the themes of ascent to heaven and the heavenly temple were central to the religious experience of the apocalyptic visionaries, and that these themes helped to shape their understanding of God, the world, and their own lives.
The author cites the beginning of the apocalyptic movement within Judaism as the time when the Jews were returning from the Exile and some of the visionaries clashed with the powerful priestly authorities:
“For one influential school of thought, the origins of apocalyptic eschatology lie in intracommunual tensions of the period of the return from Babylonia” (p. 26).
Citing Paul Hanson (The Dawn of the Apocalyptic) she states, “On the one hand, the argument goes, there emerges a "hierocratic" group that finds the fulfillment of its hopes in the rebuilding of the temple and the political power of priests, recognized as the leaders of the Jewish community by the imperial rulers. On the other hand, a "visionary" group remains loyal to the traditions of the prophets and refuses to find in the reality of the present the fulfillment of the prophetic visions. The visionary group, powerless against the priestly establishment, becomes progressively more alienated from it. This alienation leads to the divorce of prophecy from history and the emergence of an eschatology that can now be characterized as apocalyptic” (p. 26).
Martha Himmelfarb maintains that Paul Hanson views the apocalyptic visionaries as anti-temple because he believes that they rejected the temple cult and the sacrifices offered there. According to Hanson, the apocalyptic visionaries instead emphasized individual piety and moral behavior, and saw the temple as corrupt and in need of replacement by a heavenly temple. This rejection of the temple and its practices is seen as a significant shift in religious thought, as the temple had been central to Jewish worship and identity. (see page 28)
She notes that this rejection had to do with “Christian theology” (p. 28). This has to do with Christian theology because early Christianity emerged from Second Temple Judaism and was influenced by apocalyptic thought. The rejection of the temple cult and the emphasis on individual piety and moral behavior in apocalyptic Judaism were carried over into early Christianity. In Christian theology, the temple was not seen as necessary for salvation and worship, as salvation was believed to come through faith in Jesus Christ, who was seen as the true temple. This rejection of the temple cult was part of a larger rejection of the traditional Jewish religious and social structures, which helped to differentiate early Christianity from its Jewish roots and establish it as a separate religion.
What are “Hekalot Texts” that Himmelfarb discusses?
Hekalot texts are a genre of Jewish mystical literature that originated in the late antique period (c. 200-700 CE). The term "Hekalot" means "palaces" or "heavenly halls," and the texts describe the visionary ascent of the mystics to the heavenly palaces where they encounter the divine presence and various angels and intermediaries.
The Hekalot texts are part of the broader tradition of Merkavah mysticism, which focused on the contemplation of the divine chariot (Merkavah) described in the biblical book of Ezekiel. In these texts, the mystics would undergo a mystical journey through the heavenly palaces and realms, during which they would receive revelations and receive initiation into the divine mysteries.
Himmelfarb's book "Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses" likely provides a detailed analysis of the Hekalot texts and their place in the broader tradition of Jewish apocalyptic literature. She may explore the themes and motifs of the Hekalot texts, the relationship between the Hekalot texts and other forms of Jewish mystical and apocalyptic literature, and the significance of these texts for our understanding of early Jewish and Christian beliefs and practices.
Examples of Hekalot Literature
Here are some of the names of Hekalot texts that have been discovered:
1. Hekhalot Rabbati
2. Merkavah Rabbah
3. Hekhalot Zutarti
4. Shi'ur Qomah
5. 3 Enoch (also known as the Hebrew Book of Enoch)
6. Ma'aseh Merkavah
7. Hekhalot Literature
These texts are part of the larger tradition of Merkavah mysticism and contain descriptions of the ascent of the mystics to the heavenly palaces, their encounters with angels and divine beings, and their initiation into the divine mysteries. The texts were written in Hebrew and Aramaic, and are considered some of the earliest and most important works of Jewish mysticism. They continue to be studied and analyzed by scholars of religion and mysticism for their significance in the development of Jewish and later Christian mystical traditions.
As James R. Davila explains,
“The Hekhalot literature is a bizarre conglomeration of Jewish esoteric and revelatory texts produced sometime between late antiquity and the early Middle Ages. The name comes from a Hebrew word () meaning "palaces." The Hekhalot literature is the literature of the celestial palaces. These documents have strong connections with earlier apocalyptic and gnostic literature and claim to describe the self-induced spiritual experiences of the "descenders to the chariot" (a difficult phrase, used in some of the texts but not all, but the only attested tide for these magico-religious practitioners). The narrators and protagonists are almost always three prominent rabbis of the Tannaitic era: Akiva, Ishmael, and Nehuniah ben HaQanah. The texts are clearly pseudepigraphic, written long after the lifetimes of these men, although it is not impossible that some of the Hekhalot traditions go back to their teachings. But in any case, not only do the texts purport to tell us stories of their adventures; they also claim to reveal the very techniques that permitted the rabbis to view for themselves Ezekiel's Merkavah as well as those that gave them control of angels and a supernatural mastery of Torah. This material is of particular interest for the study of divine mediation and revelatory experiences, because the Hekhalot documents claim to detail actual practices used to reach trance states, gain revelations, and interact with divine beings.” (Descenders to the Chariot: The People Behind the Hekhalot Literature, p. 2-3).
She gets into some of the texts
The Testament of Levi
“The Testament of Levi forms part of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. The Testaments is a Christian work, although it clearly draws on Jewish sources… the central concern of the Testament of Levi is the corruption of the priesthood by Levi’s descendants… Like the Book of the Watchers, the Testament of Levi glorifies the role of priest while condemning those who actually serve as priests” (p. 30)
Levi’s Ascent
Levi's vision of the seven heavens comes at the beginning of the testament. While he herds his sheep, Levi contemplates the corruption of humanity and prays to be saved. He falls asleep, the heavens open, and an angel invites him into the heavens (2:3-6). The existence of more than a single heaven constitutes a significant departure from the ascent in the Book of the Watchers… the highest heaven is the “holy of holies”… (p. 31) Levi focuses on the angels singing songs of praise (p. 36), and he is given vestments to wear, “seven garments,” and is anointed, washed, and given bread and wine to eat and drink (p. 36). After the angelic minister dresses him in robes as well as giving him a diadem, they “filled his hands,” that is “consecrated him” (p. 37). Once Levi is given these sacred vestments, he is consecrated a priest and admitted into the heavenly temple. (p. 37)
2 Enoch
Transformation by Investiture
“The idea that there are special garments for the righteous after death is widespread in this period… When Paul speaks of a spiritual body (1 Cor. 15:42-50) for the righteous after death, he seems to have in mind something similar to these heavenly garments (that Enoch and Levi are receiving). What is distinctive about the glorious garments of 2 Enoch is their association with anointing and the ceremony of priestly consecration invoked. Elsewhere in 2 Enoch it is clear that Enoch is regarded as a priest. In 16:3 he is referred to as God's chosen who carries away men's sins. Further, the concluding chapters of 2 Enoch (21-23) are devoted to the succession of the priesthood after Enoch's ascension, clearly implying that Enoch himself served as priest. It is striking that in 2 Enoch, as in the Testament of Levi and Aramaic Levi, anointing precedes dressing in priestly garments, in opposition to the instructions for the consecration of Aaron as high priest in Exodus 29” (p. 40). The similarities between the text covering Levi and Enoch are provocative, especially in light of Isaiah 6 and 1 Nephi 1. In 1 Nephi 1, Lehi experiences many of these things: seeing “numberless concourses of angels,” ascending the heavens “he saw the heavens open” (plural here – 1 Nephi 1.8), where both Lehi and Isaiah see the deity on the throne. The commonalities here are provocative.
3 Enoch: Being Transformed into an Angel
“The Book of the Watchers sees Enoch as worthy of the companionship of the angels. Second Enoch suggests that Enoch was physically transformed into an angel. In the hekhalot text titled Sepher Hekhalot, or 3 Enoch, Enoch is the hero of an even more impressive success story. According to this work, the patriarch is transformed into the angel Metatron, God's second in command. The only comparable transformation in all of apocalyptic literature is also ascribed to Enoch in a chapter added to the end of the Similitudes of Enoch, which describes Enoch's transformation into the heavenly Son of Man, who, according to the body of the Similitudes, occupies a throne next to God's” (p. 44).
Enoch is given glorious garments (p. 45) as well as a diadem with precious stones, where he is “transformed into God’s second in command” (p. 48).
The Ascension of Isaiah
The Ascension of Isaiah consists of an account of Isaiah's martyrdom (chs. 1-5) and an ascent to heaven that takes place shortly before the martyrdom during which Isaiah has a vision of Christ's descent to earth and subsequent triumphant ascent (chs. 6-11). In some versions the ascent circulates without the martyrdom… As he prophesies before King Hezekiah and a group of prophets and elders, Isaiah falls into a trance during which he ascends through the heavens in the company of an angelic guide… he is given glory and transformed in the course of his ascent (p. 55).
When Isaiah tries to enter the seventh heaven, he is challenged by a voice that asks, "How far may anyone go up who lives among aliens?" Isaiah is afraid, but another voice, later identified as the voice of Christ, answers, "The holy Isaiah is permitted to come up here, for here is his garment" (9:1-2). In the seventh heaven Isaiah sees a host of angels and all the righteous from Adam on (9:7). The righteous appear clothed "in their garments of the world above . . . , like angels, standing there in great glory" (9:9). They do not yet sit on their thrones or wear their crowns of glory; this must await the return of Christ (9:10-13). Isaiah also sees a book in which he finds written the deeds of the children of Israel and of others whom he does not know, presumably the nations who will later become Christians. The book, then, is the universal counterpart to the scrolls containing Zephaniah's deeds in the Apocalypse of Zephaniah. In the seventh heaven Isaiah is so far transformed that he becomes like an angel (9:30). He then joins the angels in worshiping Christ (9:31). Once again joining the angels in praise serves as a sign of equality with the angels. Once again an understanding of heaven as temple stands in the background… we find equality among the angels… in the seventh heaven the righteous dead have the ability to look upon God with steady gaze, placing them on a higher rung of the heavenly ladder than the angels” (p. 56-57).
The author discusses many other subjects associated with these ascension texts: The Apocalypse of Abraham, the interest in nature with these visions, the classification and displacement of angels (who angelologies developed with these texts (see p. 69-70), 3 Baruch (p. 87-93), as well as the nature of pseudepigraphal works and the communities that produced them. Her conclusion (and to me, the sadness here is evident, as humanity needs these ascension texts, clearly the early Christians saw a need here!) brings so many things to mind:
The vision from Sepher ha-Hezyonot is a clear example of a traditional description of visionary experience in the course of a vision with an unmistakably personal quality. Conventional language, then, does not preclude actual visionary experience. But in the apocalypses as a group the circumstances that give rise to the visions relate not to the authors' lives, but to the career of the pseudepigraphic hero. The messages of the visions are not personal but communal.
The meaning of pseudepigraphy for the authors of the apocalypses and for their audiences remains obscure. What can be known by studying the texts is how these authors worked as authors. Taking account of how they worked argues for reading the apocalypses not as fictionalized accounts of persona! experiences but as works of fiction from start to finish, although the authors themselves would never have accepted this anachronistic labeling of the genre in which they wrote.
Gershom Scholem concluded his great work Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism with the following story:
When the Baal Shem [the founder of Hasidism] had a difficult task before him, he would go to a certain place in the woods, light a fire and meditate in prayer—and what he had set out to perform was done. When a generation later the "Maggid" of Meseritz was faced with the same task he would go to the same place in the woods and say: We can no longer light the fire, but we can still speak the prayers—and what he wanted done became reality. Again a generation later Rabbi Moshe Leib of Sassov had to perform this task. And he too went into the woods and said: We can no longer light a fire, nor do we know the secret meditations belonging to the prayer, but we do know the place in the woods to which it all belongs—and that must be sufficient; and sufficient it was. But when another generation had passed and Rabbi Israel of Rishin was called upon to perform the task, he sat down on his golden chair in his castle and said: We cannot light the fire, we cannot speak the prayers, we do not know the place, but we can tell the story of how it was done. And, the story-teller adds, the story which he told had the same effect as the actions of the other three.
This wonderful tale might serve as a motto for the thought of the hekhalot literature as its recent interpreters have read it: no need for the mystic to ascend, for telling the story is enough. The actual performance of the acts is attributed to a mythic past, the era of the great rabbis of the Mishnah; recitation itself has become the ritual.
No such claim can be made for the ascent apocalypses. Reading them was not a ritual act. Their stories performed no task, and they effected nothing outside the mind of the reader, which is where stories always perform their work. If I read them correctly, their most important accomplishment was to suggest an understanding of human possibility, of the status of the righteous in the universe, that goes beyond anything found in the Bible and was profoundly appealing to ancient Jews and Christians. In the midst of an often unsatisfactory daily life, they taught their readers to imagine themselves like Enoch, like the glorious ones, with no apparent difference.” (p. 113-114)
This was a beautiful conclusion to a book that could have easily covered four times the pages that it did. It was also a sad conclusion to a continuous legacy of individuals that experienced holy ascent and communion with the divine. May human beings once again experience holiness of this sort!
Warning - spoilers abound in this review
Martha Himmelfarb's book "Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses" provides a study of the themes of ascent to heaven and the vision of the heavenly temple in Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature. Her assertions and arguments in the book focus on the significance of these themes in the development of early Jewish and Christian beliefs and practices. She argues that the ascents of the apocalypses are best understood as instances of “rapture,” and that these ascents were at the instigation of God rather than through the initiate memorizing a text or trying to make the visionary experience happen on their own initiative (p. 5).
Himmelfarb sees these texts as evidence that the religious people that read and kept them believed that the initiate or visionary achieved “angelic status,” something that is “central to these apocalypses” (p. 7). Himmelfarb explains what she terms as apocalypses:
“The Book of the Watchers, the Testament of Levi, 2 Enoch, the Similitudes of Enoch (1 Enoch 37-71), The Apocalypse of Zephaniah, the Apocalypse of Abraham, the Ascension of Isaiah, and 3 Baruch.” (p. 7).
Himmelfarb argues that the vision of the heavenly temple was not necessarily a rejection of the earthly temple, but rather an expansion of it, with the heavenly temple serving as a model for the worship and religious practices of the faithful. She also states that the themes of ascent to heaven and the heavenly temple were central to the religious experience of the apocalyptic visionaries, and that these themes helped to shape their understanding of God, the world, and their own lives.
The author cites the beginning of the apocalyptic movement within Judaism as the time when the Jews were returning from the Exile and some of the visionaries clashed with the powerful priestly authorities:
“For one influential school of thought, the origins of apocalyptic eschatology lie in intracommunual tensions of the period of the return from Babylonia” (p. 26).
Citing Paul Hanson (The Dawn of the Apocalyptic) she states, “On the one hand, the argument goes, there emerges a "hierocratic" group that finds the fulfillment of its hopes in the rebuilding of the temple and the political power of priests, recognized as the leaders of the Jewish community by the imperial rulers. On the other hand, a "visionary" group remains loyal to the traditions of the prophets and refuses to find in the reality of the present the fulfillment of the prophetic visions. The visionary group, powerless against the priestly establishment, becomes progressively more alienated from it. This alienation leads to the divorce of prophecy from history and the emergence of an eschatology that can now be characterized as apocalyptic” (p. 26).
Martha Himmelfarb maintains that Paul Hanson views the apocalyptic visionaries as anti-temple because he believes that they rejected the temple cult and the sacrifices offered there. According to Hanson, the apocalyptic visionaries instead emphasized individual piety and moral behavior, and saw the temple as corrupt and in need of replacement by a heavenly temple. This rejection of the temple and its practices is seen as a significant shift in religious thought, as the temple had been central to Jewish worship and identity. (see page 28)
She notes that this rejection had to do with “Christian theology” (p. 28). This has to do with Christian theology because early Christianity emerged from Second Temple Judaism and was influenced by apocalyptic thought. The rejection of the temple cult and the emphasis on individual piety and moral behavior in apocalyptic Judaism were carried over into early Christianity. In Christian theology, the temple was not seen as necessary for salvation and worship, as salvation was believed to come through faith in Jesus Christ, who was seen as the true temple. This rejection of the temple cult was part of a larger rejection of the traditional Jewish religious and social structures, which helped to differentiate early Christianity from its Jewish roots and establish it as a separate religion.
What are “Hekalot Texts” that Himmelfarb discusses?
Hekalot texts are a genre of Jewish mystical literature that originated in the late antique period (c. 200-700 CE). The term "Hekalot" means "palaces" or "heavenly halls," and the texts describe the visionary ascent of the mystics to the heavenly palaces where they encounter the divine presence and various angels and intermediaries.
The Hekalot texts are part of the broader tradition of Merkavah mysticism, which focused on the contemplation of the divine chariot (Merkavah) described in the biblical book of Ezekiel. In these texts, the mystics would undergo a mystical journey through the heavenly palaces and realms, during which they would receive revelations and receive initiation into the divine mysteries.
Himmelfarb's book "Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses" likely provides a detailed analysis of the Hekalot texts and their place in the broader tradition of Jewish apocalyptic literature. She may explore the themes and motifs of the Hekalot texts, the relationship between the Hekalot texts and other forms of Jewish mystical and apocalyptic literature, and the significance of these texts for our understanding of early Jewish and Christian beliefs and practices.
Examples of Hekalot Literature
Here are some of the names of Hekalot texts that have been discovered:
1. Hekhalot Rabbati
2. Merkavah Rabbah
3. Hekhalot Zutarti
4. Shi'ur Qomah
5. 3 Enoch (also known as the Hebrew Book of Enoch)
6. Ma'aseh Merkavah
7. Hekhalot Literature
These texts are part of the larger tradition of Merkavah mysticism and contain descriptions of the ascent of the mystics to the heavenly palaces, their encounters with angels and divine beings, and their initiation into the divine mysteries. The texts were written in Hebrew and Aramaic, and are considered some of the earliest and most important works of Jewish mysticism. They continue to be studied and analyzed by scholars of religion and mysticism for their significance in the development of Jewish and later Christian mystical traditions.
As James R. Davila explains,
“The Hekhalot literature is a bizarre conglomeration of Jewish esoteric and revelatory texts produced sometime between late antiquity and the early Middle Ages. The name comes from a Hebrew word () meaning "palaces." The Hekhalot literature is the literature of the celestial palaces. These documents have strong connections with earlier apocalyptic and gnostic literature and claim to describe the self-induced spiritual experiences of the "descenders to the chariot" (a difficult phrase, used in some of the texts but not all, but the only attested tide for these magico-religious practitioners). The narrators and protagonists are almost always three prominent rabbis of the Tannaitic era: Akiva, Ishmael, and Nehuniah ben HaQanah. The texts are clearly pseudepigraphic, written long after the lifetimes of these men, although it is not impossible that some of the Hekhalot traditions go back to their teachings. But in any case, not only do the texts purport to tell us stories of their adventures; they also claim to reveal the very techniques that permitted the rabbis to view for themselves Ezekiel's Merkavah as well as those that gave them control of angels and a supernatural mastery of Torah. This material is of particular interest for the study of divine mediation and revelatory experiences, because the Hekhalot documents claim to detail actual practices used to reach trance states, gain revelations, and interact with divine beings.” (Descenders to the Chariot: The People Behind the Hekhalot Literature, p. 2-3).
She gets into some of the texts
The Testament of Levi
“The Testament of Levi forms part of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. The Testaments is a Christian work, although it clearly draws on Jewish sources… the central concern of the Testament of Levi is the corruption of the priesthood by Levi’s descendants… Like the Book of the Watchers, the Testament of Levi glorifies the role of priest while condemning those who actually serve as priests” (p. 30)
Levi’s Ascent
Levi's vision of the seven heavens comes at the beginning of the testament. While he herds his sheep, Levi contemplates the corruption of humanity and prays to be saved. He falls asleep, the heavens open, and an angel invites him into the heavens (2:3-6). The existence of more than a single heaven constitutes a significant departure from the ascent in the Book of the Watchers… the highest heaven is the “holy of holies”… (p. 31) Levi focuses on the angels singing songs of praise (p. 36), and he is given vestments to wear, “seven garments,” and is anointed, washed, and given bread and wine to eat and drink (p. 36). After the angelic minister dresses him in robes as well as giving him a diadem, they “filled his hands,” that is “consecrated him” (p. 37). Once Levi is given these sacred vestments, he is consecrated a priest and admitted into the heavenly temple. (p. 37)
2 Enoch
Transformation by Investiture
“The idea that there are special garments for the righteous after death is widespread in this period… When Paul speaks of a spiritual body (1 Cor. 15:42-50) for the righteous after death, he seems to have in mind something similar to these heavenly garments (that Enoch and Levi are receiving). What is distinctive about the glorious garments of 2 Enoch is their association with anointing and the ceremony of priestly consecration invoked. Elsewhere in 2 Enoch it is clear that Enoch is regarded as a priest. In 16:3 he is referred to as God's chosen who carries away men's sins. Further, the concluding chapters of 2 Enoch (21-23) are devoted to the succession of the priesthood after Enoch's ascension, clearly implying that Enoch himself served as priest. It is striking that in 2 Enoch, as in the Testament of Levi and Aramaic Levi, anointing precedes dressing in priestly garments, in opposition to the instructions for the consecration of Aaron as high priest in Exodus 29” (p. 40). The similarities between the text covering Levi and Enoch are provocative, especially in light of Isaiah 6 and 1 Nephi 1. In 1 Nephi 1, Lehi experiences many of these things: seeing “numberless concourses of angels,” ascending the heavens “he saw the heavens open” (plural here – 1 Nephi 1.8), where both Lehi and Isaiah see the deity on the throne. The commonalities here are provocative.
3 Enoch: Being Transformed into an Angel
“The Book of the Watchers sees Enoch as worthy of the companionship of the angels. Second Enoch suggests that Enoch was physically transformed into an angel. In the hekhalot text titled Sepher Hekhalot, or 3 Enoch, Enoch is the hero of an even more impressive success story. According to this work, the patriarch is transformed into the angel Metatron, God's second in command. The only comparable transformation in all of apocalyptic literature is also ascribed to Enoch in a chapter added to the end of the Similitudes of Enoch, which describes Enoch's transformation into the heavenly Son of Man, who, according to the body of the Similitudes, occupies a throne next to God's” (p. 44).
Enoch is given glorious garments (p. 45) as well as a diadem with precious stones, where he is “transformed into God’s second in command” (p. 48).
The Ascension of Isaiah
The Ascension of Isaiah consists of an account of Isaiah's martyrdom (chs. 1-5) and an ascent to heaven that takes place shortly before the martyrdom during which Isaiah has a vision of Christ's descent to earth and subsequent triumphant ascent (chs. 6-11). In some versions the ascent circulates without the martyrdom… As he prophesies before King Hezekiah and a group of prophets and elders, Isaiah falls into a trance during which he ascends through the heavens in the company of an angelic guide… he is given glory and transformed in the course of his ascent (p. 55).
When Isaiah tries to enter the seventh heaven, he is challenged by a voice that asks, "How far may anyone go up who lives among aliens?" Isaiah is afraid, but another voice, later identified as the voice of Christ, answers, "The holy Isaiah is permitted to come up here, for here is his garment" (9:1-2). In the seventh heaven Isaiah sees a host of angels and all the righteous from Adam on (9:7). The righteous appear clothed "in their garments of the world above . . . , like angels, standing there in great glory" (9:9). They do not yet sit on their thrones or wear their crowns of glory; this must await the return of Christ (9:10-13). Isaiah also sees a book in which he finds written the deeds of the children of Israel and of others whom he does not know, presumably the nations who will later become Christians. The book, then, is the universal counterpart to the scrolls containing Zephaniah's deeds in the Apocalypse of Zephaniah. In the seventh heaven Isaiah is so far transformed that he becomes like an angel (9:30). He then joins the angels in worshiping Christ (9:31). Once again joining the angels in praise serves as a sign of equality with the angels. Once again an understanding of heaven as temple stands in the background… we find equality among the angels… in the seventh heaven the righteous dead have the ability to look upon God with steady gaze, placing them on a higher rung of the heavenly ladder than the angels” (p. 56-57).
The author discusses many other subjects associated with these ascension texts: The Apocalypse of Abraham, the interest in nature with these visions, the classification and displacement of angels (who angelologies developed with these texts (see p. 69-70), 3 Baruch (p. 87-93), as well as the nature of pseudepigraphal works and the communities that produced them. Her conclusion (and to me, the sadness here is evident, as humanity needs these ascension texts, clearly the early Christians saw a need here!) brings so many things to mind:
The vision from Sepher ha-Hezyonot is a clear example of a traditional description of visionary experience in the course of a vision with an unmistakably personal quality. Conventional language, then, does not preclude actual visionary experience. But in the apocalypses as a group the circumstances that give rise to the visions relate not to the authors' lives, but to the career of the pseudepigraphic hero. The messages of the visions are not personal but communal.
The meaning of pseudepigraphy for the authors of the apocalypses and for their audiences remains obscure. What can be known by studying the texts is how these authors worked as authors. Taking account of how they worked argues for reading the apocalypses not as fictionalized accounts of persona! experiences but as works of fiction from start to finish, although the authors themselves would never have accepted this anachronistic labeling of the genre in which they wrote.
Gershom Scholem concluded his great work Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism with the following story:
When the Baal Shem [the founder of Hasidism] had a difficult task before him, he would go to a certain place in the woods, light a fire and meditate in prayer—and what he had set out to perform was done. When a generation later the "Maggid" of Meseritz was faced with the same task he would go to the same place in the woods and say: We can no longer light the fire, but we can still speak the prayers—and what he wanted done became reality. Again a generation later Rabbi Moshe Leib of Sassov had to perform this task. And he too went into the woods and said: We can no longer light a fire, nor do we know the secret meditations belonging to the prayer, but we do know the place in the woods to which it all belongs—and that must be sufficient; and sufficient it was. But when another generation had passed and Rabbi Israel of Rishin was called upon to perform the task, he sat down on his golden chair in his castle and said: We cannot light the fire, we cannot speak the prayers, we do not know the place, but we can tell the story of how it was done. And, the story-teller adds, the story which he told had the same effect as the actions of the other three.
This wonderful tale might serve as a motto for the thought of the hekhalot literature as its recent interpreters have read it: no need for the mystic to ascend, for telling the story is enough. The actual performance of the acts is attributed to a mythic past, the era of the great rabbis of the Mishnah; recitation itself has become the ritual.
No such claim can be made for the ascent apocalypses. Reading them was not a ritual act. Their stories performed no task, and they effected nothing outside the mind of the reader, which is where stories always perform their work. If I read them correctly, their most important accomplishment was to suggest an understanding of human possibility, of the status of the righteous in the universe, that goes beyond anything found in the Bible and was profoundly appealing to ancient Jews and Christians. In the midst of an often unsatisfactory daily life, they taught their readers to imagine themselves like Enoch, like the glorious ones, with no apparent difference.” (p. 113-114)
This was a beautiful conclusion to a book that could have easily covered four times the pages that it did. It was also a sad conclusion to a continuous legacy of individuals that experienced holy ascent and communion with the divine. May human beings once again experience holiness of this sort!
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