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The Betä Ǝsraʾel community of Ethiopia has an extensive and complex collection of scripture, known as the Mäṣḥäf Ḳədus (literally: Holy Books). Outside of the Orit (or Octateuch — the holiest part of the Mäṣḥäf Ḳədus, including the Five Books, Joshua, Judges, and Ruth) they also preserve all of the books of the Septuagint and many deuterocanonical books, as well as books unique to their community. One of these books has already been posted here. But this is another, often considered the crown jewel of the Betä Ǝsraʾel-specific books.
Təʾəzazä Sänbät, or the Commandments of the Sabbath, is a unique and fascinatingly eclectic work, combining Enochic and aggadic material with an almost kabbalistic personification of Shabbat, and influence from Islamic and Christian texts. Attributed to Abba Ṣabra, a famed 15th-century convert to Judaism, it is a compilation of texts meant to be studied and considered on Shabbat, alongside unique and striking visualizations of divine cosmology, heaven and hell, and midrashim found nowhere else.
The English text here was translated directly from the Gəʿəz by well-known Ethiopic scholar and Holocaust survivor Wolf Leslau (z”l), and the Hebrew was translated and cantillated by the editor. While the editor has access to the Gəʿəz text recorded by Joseph Hálevy, many scholars consider his text to be unreliable, and Leslau’s translation is based on MS d’Abbadie, 107, fol. 105r° ff., a manuscript at the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris. Anyone who has access to a high-quality transcription of said manuscript, or who would like to commission another work, should contact the editor through his website at igmjewishcreativeworks.com or email him at his work email.
We have added section numbers to the work corresponding to the nineteen sections Wolf Leslau describes in his “Synopsis” to Təʾəzazä Sänbät. (Find below, in brackets.)
Note: the divine name in the Hebrew text is vocalized יֶהִוַהֵ. This is meant to reflect the traditional Gəʿəz epithet in place of the Divine Name, ʾƎgziʾäbəḥer. When chanted aloud, it is intended by the editor that ʾƎgziʾäbəḥer is used where other texts might use Adonai.
An Introduction to the Təʾəzazä Sänbät (Wolf Leslau 1951)
[1] From the Falasha Anthology (1951). The term Falasha, meaning “landless” or “wanderers,” was commonly used by the Christians of Ethiopia to refer to the Betä Ǝsraʾel, and at the time it was the standard term for the community used in scholarship. Due to its derogatory origin, the Betä Ǝsraʾel community considers it an ethnic slur. It has been retained here but replaced below in Leslau’s introduction and notes with “[Beta Israel].”
Synopsis
A collection of [Beta Israel] writings in the Geez language was given to the learned world by Jose Halévy, a scholar famous for his explorations of South Arabia. The Commandments of the Sabbath well deserves its first place in this collection, for it is one of the most attractive of [Beta Israel] literary productions.
To Jews everywhere and at all times the Sabbath has been particularly valued. But it was left for the [Beta Israel] to give it a metaphysical background by viewing the day as a female figure personifying the heavenly world. This is analogous to what Hellenistic Jewish and subsequent Gnostic speculation has done with such a concept as wisdom. But to personify the Sabbath day in similar manner was a new departure. However, the personification is not carried through consistently in this text but occurs only intermittently.
[1.] The document begins with a formula of praise of the God of Israel taken from Num. 16:22. It then relates the story of the six days of creation. The creation of man is elaborated on in an interesting way. Dust has to be brought from the country of Dudālēm for the purpose. The archangels Gērmā’ēl and ‘Aksā’ēl, who are dispatched in turn to fetch it, are overawed by the earth’s invoking God’s glorious name in self-defense and return empty handed. Běrnā’ēl, however, who has no regard for that invocation, brings the dust, but in doing so he rouses the Deity’s ire and is thrown down to earth by Michael. At God’s command he is changed into fire. He asks that those who transgress God’s commandments be given into his power so that they may be punished along with him.
[2.] God now creates Adam. Between the account of fashioning the inanimate body and that of infusing the breath of life into it there seems to be some misplaced material about God’s ceasing work on the seventh day and creating Hell on the third day. The newly formed Adam is put in the “Garden of Pleasure” to guard it for forty-one days. He transgresses the commandments of the Creator (though no prohibition has been stated) and is claimed by Běrnā’ēl. By invoking the name of God he manages to have this fate put off. We then hear that man has transgressed night and day on the Sabbath. Once more Bernā’ēl claims him and receives consent to man’s being punished with him in Hell. The angels, however, advise Adam to go into God’s presence and ask God to give him the holy Sabbath. He stays there for forty-one days).
[3.] Without further explanation of this issue we hear of the Lord’s creating woman out of a rib; the story of the fall is related essentially as in Gen. 2-3. Here, however, the garden is called ‘Elyās and man after being driven out of it dwells east of Edom.
[4.] At this point the author introduces an interlude in which the archangels praise God and ask Him for food. The earth implores Him for rain, God finally sends it, and all the birds and animals praise the Creator.
[5.] The story of humanity continues. This is a separate piece, however, for the name of the garden is ‘Elda, and man’s expulsion from it is referred to only incidentally in connection with the statement that Enoch has been placed in the garden and will stay there till the Savior comes.
[6.] A new beginning is apparently made with the statement, “This is the Book of Israel, concerning the greatness and the glory of the Sabbath of Israel.” The section that follows here speaks first of the institution of the rest day and gives a divine oracle concerning it, composed of exhortations and pre dictions as to the fate after death of those who disregard the Sabbath. Here the personification of the Sabbath begins. She rises from her seat in Heaven on Friday at dawn, the spirit of God descends, the angels crown her (duplicate statements suggest that several versions have been combined here) and bring her down from on high. Sabbath looks upon the souls of the just in the garden, causing them to rejoice, and even the sinners in Sheol love her, repentant over the evil they did on the Sabbath and hopeful that they may be brought up out of the place of torture. After some general statements about those who do the right thing on the Sabbath and further admonitions and assurances to them, the theme of deliverance from Sheol is continued. God commands Michael to go down to Sheol to bring out those in the nether world and give them a reprieve from the ninth hour of Friday until Sunday morning. But the hardened sinners apparently have to stay in Sheol, though they appeal to Michael for deliverance. Michael, following divine instructions, brings the souls of the just into the garden on the ninth hour of Friday. Here they are graciously received. Sabbath presents to God those “who believe in me and Thee” but apparently have no good works to rely on, and asks mercy for them; they receive the divine pity and are sent away with out humiliation. There is some further discussion of the kind of men who enter Paradise and who enjoy divine favor on the Day of Judgment, as well as of those who came out of Sheol or were brought up by Michael. Their punishment is considered preferable to Sheol. Observance of the Sabbath is enjoined and the angels of Heaven sing a song in praise of the divine victor.
[7.] The next section begins, “These are the commandments of the Sabbath, etc.” After a restatement of the Sabbath rules there is a whole series of laws involving the death penalty, interrupted however by a section describing the blessedness of the Sabbath day. Then the personified Sabbath states that she was present at creation and asks not to be sent to the unjust. A declaration of God to Moses, again containing a list of transgressions with the death penalty, is given, and in conclusion there are some general observations contrasting the just and the unjust.
[8.] The creation of an angel—the eagle Tāni—is next mentioned. He is sent to explore Gehenna. When he returns emaciated after a twenty-year absence he admits not having reached the end of it, but he gives God a description of the punishments of Hell.
[9.] Then follows a predictive piece. On the day when God reprimands the children of Adam, Sabbath will stand at the entrance of Hell and appeal for special consideration for those who kept the Sabbath (whatever else they may have done); she will be given a favorable answer. Some mixed material, largely in praise of keeping the Sabbath, terminates this section.
[10.] A new section is introduced by praise to God in which angels and earth and stars participate. God’s mercy to men is exemplified by biblical personages from Adam to Elisha. This is developed in detail. Once more we hear of Adam’s creation, of his being put in the Garden of Pleasure, and of his expulsion from it. Noah receives passing mention. This is followed by a reference to God’s mercy to Abraham. The story of the birth and youth of Abraham is related with special emphasis on his breaking his father’s idols. Terah sends him to Nimrod, king of Canaan, who attempts to make him worship idols and when unsuccessful throws Abra ham into the flames of an oven. God, however, sends Gabriel down to deliver the patriarch. The story of the sacrifice of Isaac is related next. We learn in connection with it that the horn of the ram that was substituted for Isaac will be blown by Elijah on Mount Zion and its blast will be heard to the ends of the earth on the Last Day.
[11.] The significance of Adam’s fall is considered, but Moses’ work, carried further by good priests, kings, and prophets, is viewed as putting us back in the garden of delight.
[12.] The biblical story of the golden calf is told, and especially how the calf was ground to powder and the Israelites made to drink it; 20,700 who had given gold for making the calf died. Apparently, however, some 102,090 of the survivors separated themselves from the rest and arrived at the plain of ‘Iyārēwos, where they are imagined to abide still, alienated from God. It is not clear to whom the statement “Those who died were saints, and they shall be men of renown on the Last Day” refers.
[13.] The personified Sabbath reappears. Attended by angels she worships the Creator on Friday morning. God converses with her and tells her that those who honor her honor Him. Sabbath praises the Lord and then leaves the camp of God attended by angels. They bring her to earth and report the deeds of men on the Sabbath day to God, who then rewards or punishes. God bids all people praise Him. Here follow some reflections and laws about the Sabbath day and the Sabbath year. The theme of Sabbath’s descent to earth on Friday at the ninth hour is resumed. She bids Michael, Gabriel, Rumā’ēl, and Uriel bring her those who are her own. This leads to a struggle with the hosts of Bērnā’ēl who are driven back to Sheol. Michael then ascends to Sabbath and reports on the struggle. Sabbath appeals to God to give her those who love her. God agrees. She promises to intercede for those who fear her on the Last Day, but those who disregard her will be seized by the hosts of Bērnā’ēl.
[14.] There follow statements about God’s giving the Sabbath to Moses. However, Sabbath was with God from eternity, though not yet visible at the time when God’s spirit moved on the face of the waters. In the material that follows the personified Sabbath is not mentioned again. There is an account of the days of creation and of how God celebrated the Sabbath in Heaven on the seventh day and ordered the two kinds of angels to keep it, predicting, too, that he would take for his own a people from among all peoples that would keep the Sabbath.
[15.] A transition to the history of Adam to Moses is then made, but that history is not elaborated on. An apocalyptic passage is introduced referring to the Ethiopian king, Gabra Masqal, and his successors and the eclipse of that line.
[16.] Rather abruptly a commandment about bringing offerings on the fifth (?) day is introduced. Then follows narrative material. The angels, seeing that the Sabbath (?) was not sanctified on the fifth day, came before God apparently seeking to have the Sabbath for themselves. However, God rejected that request. He had not given the Sabbath even to his servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! After the angels have praised God in all three Heavens he gives them their food, the manna. They eat and continue their praise of the Creator, standing at their places, while the doors of the house of God are open on New Moon and Sabbath. The earthly scene is then envisaged in more detail. The purpose of God’s creation of the Sabbath is pointed out, and a regulation about the seventh Sabbath after the Passover and the fiftieth day (Pentecost) is added. The angels are called upon to praise the man who observed the Sabbath.
[17.] The personified Sabbath now descends to earth at Jerusalem and is received by Abel, Enoch, and Melchizedek and crowned by angels. There are explanations of the benefits gained by honoring her, and admonitions and promises from God who announces the glory of His name. A saying of God to Moses on the third Sabbath of the fifth month is reported.
[18.] An apocalyptic piece is then introduced. When God questions men at the final assize Sabbath intercedes for those who were loyal to her. The text then passes into warnings and exhortations.
[19.] Once more the theme of the creation of man is introduced. Man and woman were created in the first week, but woman was not shown to man until the second. They came into Eden on the fortieth and eightieth days respectively. These “facts” supposedly explain certain laws of purification. Incidents of patriarchal history are related which took place in the fourth and seventh months and thus apparently have particular dignity. The text ends with God’s declaration of his love for Abraham and his seed and a suitable benediction.
Sources
The sources are mostly Jewish, both biblical and extra-biblical. The most interesting and original part of the book is the concept of the Sabbath and the legends concerning her.
The Sabbath is a holy entity. Various names are given her: Luminous, Vivifying, Rejoicing, Beloved, and Guardian. She is also called the “Sabbath of Israel,” and the “Sabbath of God.” She intercedes with God insistently, for both the righteous and the sinners. That the sinners rest in Hell on the Sabbath and are not punished on that day is well known in Jewish, Christian, and Moslem writings, and is often mentioned in the Commandments of the Sabbath. What characterizes our book is its originality and the picturesque description of how the Sabbath, crowned on that day by the angels, goes down to Sheol and delivers the sinners from their punishment.
A Jewish source other than biblical and rabbinical for this material is the Book of Jubilees. In fact, various passages such as those dealing with the creation of the world, the ordinances concerning the defilement of the woman, the commandments of the Sabbath, and others are taken from the Book of the Jubilees. Several passages, especially those concerning the angels, are drawn from the Ethiopic Enoch.
Occasionally one can find a Christian element, such as the mention of the Savior in connection with Enoch (“And Enoch will be there until the Savior comes”), and perhaps also that of the Sabbath rest of the sinners until Sunday morning, and of the offerings presented to Sabbath on Sunday. But on the whole Christian elements are insignificant, and it can safely be concluded that the Commandments of the Sabbath is strongly influenced by Jewish writings.
Some legends amplifying various accounts of the Bible, such as the creation of Adam, the story of Abraham and his relation to Nimrod, and others, are of Arabic rather than Jewish origin. They may have been taken over either orally or from translations, but in any case are found here in a very corrupt form. For example, in the story of the creation of Adam angels are sent to take dust from the earth. The names of the angels are not the same as in the Arabic sources, but the whole account corresponds exactly to what we know from Arabic texts.
Arabic origin can also be traced in the story of Nimrod who, in his desire to kill the God of Abraham, builds a high tower to reach the abode of God and then, seated in a palanquin carried by eagles, shot an arrow at someone he thought to be the God of Abraham. This account is Arabic and is related in our text in a very abridged and corrupt form.
Date of Composition
The date of this work can be determined only in a general way. The presence of influence from Christian-Arabic quarters suggests that it is not older than the fourteenth century. It is quite possible, of course, that the work contains materials which reach much further back. The extreme limit for any part of it would be the period of biblical translation from the fifth through the seventh centuries. It will be one of the tasks of future research to determine whether Jewish agadic materials or Christian sources furnish any clues that would make possible a more precise dating.
[From a family of musicians, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer believes that creative art is one of the most powerful ways to get in touch with the divine. He composes music and poetry in Hebrew and English. Isaac runs a Jewish music transcription service, which will transcribe and set any Jewish music in any language, recorded or written. To commission works, check out his website at igmjewishcreativeworks.com or email him at his work email.]
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And it was night, and it was day. And it was six days, and He finished His work. The first[2] Thus in H. day He created the light. The second day He created Heaven[3] Thus in H. and water showing His wisdom.[4] Wisdom is the one “that sitteth by” God on His throne (Wisdom of Solomon 9:4). It was with Him when He made the world (ibid., 9: 9). See also, I Enoch 84: 3; II Enoch 30: 8; Prov. 8. The third day He created the earth, the sea, and everything that grows, each after its kind and aspect. The fourth day He created the sun, the moon, and the constellations of stars. The fifth day He created the angels of Heaven,[5] According to Jewish tradition the angels were created either on the first or on the fifth day (Legends, 1, 16; 5, 20, n. 61). For the creation of the angels on the first day, see also, Bezold, Schatzhöhle, p. i. the big sea monsters,[6] A has ʾanābt instead of ʾanāběrt of H. and the fowl after their kind. The sixth day He created the animals fit for (food for) human kind until the earth was full of them,[7]Yěfadfěd in H; A has wrongly yěraffěd. and then, on the same day, He created Adam, at midday.[8] On the hour when Adam was created, see Aptowitzer, Agadoth, pp. 112, 121. According to some Arabic traditions Adam was created between noon and evening; according to others, in the third hour of the sixth clay (R. Gottheil, “Adam,” JE, 1, 178; Weil, Biblical Legends, p. 19). On that day God Himself thought to create Adam,[9] This corresponds to the Arabic concept that God alone created Adam (Ṭabari, Chronique, 1, 72), and not to the Jewish idea which interprets Gen. 1:26, “Let us make man…,” as addressed to helpers. and He sent His angel called Gěrmāʾēl[10] This name is composed of gěrmā, “majesty,” and ʾēl, “God,” found in many names of the angels; H has ʾAksāʾēl. down to earth. The angel of God came to the earth, reached the country of Dudālēm,[11] This name does not seem to occur in the other accounts of the creation of Adam. It may be a misread form of an Arabic source. There is a form, (ḏū) ʾadim, used by Ṭabari, Annales, p. 87, when speaking of Adam: xuliqa min ʾadim(in), “he was created from earth,” and corresponding to Hebrew ʾaḏamah. An expression ḏū ʾadim, read ḏūʾadīm and corrupted into dudālēm, would not be impossible. According to Jewish tradition the dust might have been collected from all the earth or from a particular place (Aptowitzer, Agadoth, p. 121). and was about to take dust from the earth. The country of Dudālēm was cleft asunder and took refuge in the name of the mighty Lord.[12] Probably reflects the Arabic ʿāḏat, “she took refuge.” The angel, fearing the Holy Name, left (that country) and returned to his sender and stood trembling before God. God said to him: “Why didst thou not bring me [the dust of the earth]?” The angel of God said to his sender: “The earth invoked Thy name and took refuge in Thy glorious name.[13] The earth refused to give dust because it was destined to become cursed through man (Legends, I, 54). The same idea is expressed in Arabic legends (Ṭabari, Chronique, I, 72 ff.). I feared Thy name, the glorious, great, and strong.”[14] From H. The angel stood trembling from head to foot, his soul trembled, and he was unable to speak to Him who had sent him. God said to him: “Fear not.”[15] According to H. And his mind was restored, for he glorified the name of God. And the angel, who feared the name of God, became strong.
God then thought: “I shall desist from creating [Adam].” Then [He sent] another angel named ʾAksāʾēl.[16] H has Gěrmāʾēl The angel rose up, reached the (land) of Dudālēm, and took from the dust [of the earth. The earth said]: “I take refuge in His Holy Name.” This angel, too, feared the name of God and left the earth. The soul of the one who belonged to the army of God trembled. God said to the angel: “Why didst thou not bring me [the dust of the earth]?” The angel answered, though he was hardly able to do it, and said: “Because Thy name is terrible forever.” God said to him: “Who revealed my name to thee, and who is he?” “None revealed to me[17] Taken from H. Thy name, but the earth invoked it, and my soul trembled.” God said: “He who fears my name is blessed. Likewise they who honor me will not enter into Hell.”
The archangel of God named Běrnāʾēl[18] Běrnāʾēl is explained by Halévy, Těʾězāza, iv, n. i, as a contraction of běrhān ʾēl, “the light of El” (cf. Lucifer). The form běrnā– would then reflect an Amharic form. The form Běrhānāʾēl also exists (Aescoli, p. 130); Aescoli, p. 126, n. 17, identifies the name with Ḥaza’el of the Book of Enoch. In our text Běrnāʾēl has the same role as Běryāl, Běrnāʾēl in the Book of the Angels (see below, p. 53), and it is possible that Běryāl is remodeled into Běrnāʾēl after the numerous names of angels and devils ending in ʾēl, “God.” answered and said: “O God, the great Lord forever,” and became angry and said to the two archangels whom God had sent: “You have disobeyed the commandment of God.” God was angry at Běrnāʾēl because of that. [And Běrnāʾēl said to God]: “Send me and I shall go.”[19] The text contains some words which do not yield any meaning. God (decided) to send him. Běrnāʾēl, of the army of God, stood up. God said: “Hurry, and bring me the dust.” Běrnāʾēl came, rejoicing in his heart because of God, ran from the end[20] To be read děngāga as in H instead of děngādē as in A. of the camp, and arrived in the land of Dudālēm. When he arrived the earth trembled, was fearful and agitated. It knew while (the angel) stood there [that he would take the dust], whereas previously the two angels did not rise up and take it. The angel Běrnāʾēl took the dust, and the earth became a big abyss. It shouted aloud from its interior to its foundations and took refuge in the mighty name of God. Běrnāʾēl said: “I shall not answer anything.” The earth shouted aloud to the One who had sent (the angel),[21] The text is slightly corrupt. wept, and trembled for seven years.
Běrnāʾēl, the very proud, took clay of the earth,[22] The text is slightly corrupt. carried it and brought it before God. God looked upon the earth and contemplated while it trembled.[23] For the creation of Adam in Jewish legends, see Legends, 1, 52 5.; V. Aptowitzer, “La Création de l’homme d’après les anciens interprètes,” REJ, 75 (1922), 1-15; Agadoth. pp. 112-128. According to some Jewish sources the band of the archangel Michael advised God not to create Adam and was consumed by fire except for its chief Michael. The same thing happened to the band of Gabriel. But the band of Labbiel, taught by the horrible fate of its predecessors, yielded to God’s wishes, and Labbiel had his name changed to Raphael (Legends, 1, 53-54). The source of the [Beta Israel] legend however is the Arabic legend according to which Gabriel went to fetch dust from the earth from the place where the present Kaʿaba is situated. The earth refused to give its dust, fearing that it might be cursed because of man. Gabriel withdrew and the same thing happened to Michael, but lzraʾel, the Angel of Death, was not afraid of the earth and brought the dust (Ṭabari, Chronique, I, 72 ff., and others). God said: “Behold, the earth trembled seven years until the beginning of the jubilee. It will tremble thus beginning from today until the end of the years.” God looked upon Běrnāʾēl with anger and said: “Become fire.” He then said to the angel named Michael: “Take him by his foot, throw him down upon the earth, and slap him upon his cheek.” Michael said to God: “Give me the strength to overpower him.” God agreed and gave His favor and strength to Michael. Michael seized Běrnāʾēl’s foot and threw him down upon the earth. Běrnāʾēl’s grace became deficient,[24] To be read gwadalo as in H. and his whole body became a furnace of fire[25] On the fight of Michael against Běrnāʾēl and his hosts, see below, p. 32. 3 because he aroused[26] The text has a negation. suspicion by the very words of his mouth. God crushed this insolent one and said to him: “Verily, thou shalt become fire.”[27] It is obscure why God threw Běrnāʾēl down to earth. According to Jewish and Moslem legends Satan was jealous of the first man and did not want to show reverence and pay homage to him (Adam and Eve, Secs. 13 ff.; Legends, 1, 62). According to II Enoch 29: 4—5, the fall of Satan took place because he was jealous of God.
[Běrnāʾēl] said: “Give me those who sinned, transgressing Thy laws and commandments. Let the souls of those who disobeyed Thy commandments become like mine, and may they be punished with me.” God said: “It is because of my Holy Name that I created man and made him with my holy fingers.[28] That Adam was created by God’s hand is a thought found in both Jewish and Christian sources (Legends, 1, 50; 5, 63). They who fear my name will live; they who fear not my name will descend into Hell; they who turn from their sins and repent will live;[29] The last two sentences are repeated. they who revolt against my commandments will go with thee [into Hell].”
2. God, the Lord of justice[30] The text reads, “He said to him.” created Adam after his likeness, with the fire, water, wind, and stones.[31] See below, p. 25. The Arabic legend, too, knows that Adam was created from earth, clay, dust, and slime (Ṭabari, Chronique, l, 75) God saw his body, and his soul had not entered yet upon him.[32] According to Jewish and Moslem legends, Adam remained formless for eighty days. Thereupon God gave him a human form but without a soul. He remained in this condition for 120 years. It was only then that God blew into him the spirit of life (Aptowitzer, Agadoth, p. 115; Grünbaum, Neue Beitrüge, p. 12). God said: “What bad things will come from him?” God ceased to work the seventh day. The third day He created Hell[33] According to the Agada, Hell was created on the second day (Legends, 1, 13; 5, 19). with all its hosts.[34] This sentence is repeated. The creation of Hell and its fire took place because of the deeds of man. In fact, God created Hell because man was bad from his youth until his end.
Then God breathed into man the breath of life, and he became alive and stood before God, the Lord. God said to Adam: “Go and return.” And he went and returned. And God rejoiced[35] According to H. that Adam walked in the Garden[36] The text here and elsewhere has ʾĒlyās. H has ʾĒlsā. It reflects, perhaps, the Greek Elysium. of Pleasure[37] ”Garden of Pleasure” is a translation of the Hebrew gan ʿeḏen. in order to guard it for forty-one days.[38] According to H. See also p. 38, where we read that Adam “had completed forty days in the land wherein he had been created.” And God said: “May he eat and be satiated by the fruit of the trees that perish not and remain forever, on which (man) works not nor waters, and finds fresh fruit every year… its fruit will not cease; its leaves perish not, its splendor [disappears not], and its roots dry not out.[39] Paradise was such that it was not necessary for Adam to till the soil (Legends, 1, 71; 5, 31-32; A. Jellinek, “Seḏergan ʿeḏen,” Beṯ Hammiḏraš [1853], 2. 52—53). Like the fruit which ceases not are the ways of man.” But Adam transgressed the commandments of his Creator, and Běrnāʾēl said to his Lord: “Give him to me.”[40] 5!. This idea is fully developed in Test. of the Twelve Patriarchs in which Beliar and the spirits of Beliar were given power over the sinner. See also, Book of the Angels, p. 53. Adam heard his request and invoked the name of God, saying: “Father, Father, Holy, Holy, Holy, [Lord of] Sabaoth is Thy name. Thy kingdom is not dissolved, Thy word will not be denied for the duration of the years.” God said to him: “Night and day shall thy mouth not be silenced [from praise of God], morning and evening may it not cease until its measure be full at a time when the worm sleeps not.”[41] This is an allusion to the last days when “the worm sleeps not and the fire is not quenched.” See below, pp. 16, 28.
God saw that man transgressed night and day on the Sabbath…[42] The text is corrupt and Běrnāʾēl said: “O Lord, I beg Thee, give me the one who sinned, transgressing Thy law and commandments, and despised Thy word.” God said to him: “I give permission that he who despised my name and swore by my name be punished with thee in Hell.” The angels said to Adam: “Go and stand before God.” Adam stood before God [?] and said: “O Lord, give me the holy Sabbath.” He arrived in the tent of God and stood before God for forty-one days.[43] See above, n. 49.
3. [And the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs][44] The text is supplemented according to Gen. 2:21. and closed up the flesh thereof instead.[45] The text has here wamalayālyāta, “and articulations.” And from the rib which the Lord had taken from man He made a woman and brought her unto man and placed her at his bedside. Adam woke up from his sleep, looked about, seized his wife, and said: “This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; she will be my wife that God granted me to abide with me.”
The serpent rose on the sixteenth day of[46] In Jubilees 3:17 the serpent came on the seventh day of the second month. the second month and came to the woman and said to her:[47] See Gen. 3: 1—7. “What did He allow you and what did He forbid you?” The woman said to the serpent: “We may eat [of all the fruit of the trees of the garden], but of the fruit of the tree [which is in the midst of the garden] God has said: ‘You shall not eat of it, lest you die.’” The serpent said: [“You shall not surely die,] for God knows that on the day you eat thereof your eyes shall be opened, and you shall know good and evil.” The woman saw the tree, took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also to her husband. And they ate, and the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they heard God coming, and Adam and his wife hid themselves among [the trees of] the garden. And God said to Adam: “Where art thou?” And Adam said: “[I was afraid] because I was naked, and I hid myself.” God became angry and sent them forth from the Garden of ʾĒlyās[48] H has ʾĒldā. See also nn. 47, 66. and (Adam) stayed in front of Edom.[49] This seems to correspond to Eden; cf. Gen. 3:24.
4. Ninety-nine archangels gathered together, praised and exalted God, and said: “Thy wholeness is marvelous, Thy kingdom is mighty, the marvelousness of Thy wisdom is venerable.” They trembled because of the majesty of His voice (and said): “Thou art the Creator of Heaven and earth, Thou, Lord, the excellent, the just, and the living; with their mouth they exalt and praise the divinity of Thy name that is and will be.”
They stood before God, trembling and weeping bitterly, and asked for their food. God said to the angels: “The clouds will bring your[50] The text has “their.” food[51] See also below, p. 35. The allusion in these passages is probably to the mana which was thought to have been ground by the angels. Mana was also called “bread of the angels”; it will be set before them in the future world. (Legends, 3, 33, and especially 6, 17, in various notes.) in its season, and you will eat forever.” The angels said to God: “What is Thy[52] The text has “your.” food, O Lord?” God said to the angels: “My[53] The text has “their.” food is the praise that all creatures bestow upon me, and I give the rain as food for all flesh.”
The earth shouted and wept bitterly and said: “I am always dry, give me rain, O Lord my Creator.”[54] This probably has a connection with the legend that the earth was also guilty of various misdemeanors and that it too had to suffer a tenfold punishment. One of them was that it had to wait to be watered by the rains from above. God heard the cry of the earth and said to the clouds: “Go and bring rain.” The clouds rose and went as God commanded them; they ran and took the waters of God to the place where He sent them. God drove a strong wind beneath the clouds to disperse them, and He said to the clouds: “Let the water go down.” They did as God commanded them. The earth drank, was satiated, and blessed God: “O Father of praise, Lord of the world who gave me my food, the rain. I praise and glorify God to whom it is fitting to give praise and thanks.” Then the green grass and the trees of the plain appeared; and all the birds of the sky and all the animals of the earth praised Him all together.
5. Adam made a… and he named his wife Eve. He stayed in (the Garden of) ʾĒldā[55] Also in Jubilees 3:32. Charles, ibid., p. 29, n. 32, questions whether ʾĒldā is not a corruption of the Hebrew moleḏah, so that “land of ʾĒldā” would mean “land of nativity.” Beer, Buch der Jubiläen, p. 15, speaks of Eldad but without further explanation. numerous days and begat sons and daughters. The sons numbered nine[56] Also Jubilees 4:10. The names of the sons are given by Philo, Biblical Antiquities (trans. M. R. James, 1917). p. 76. This notion is unknown in the Agada. and the daughters ninety. Adam died in justice[57] Gen. 5:6 ff. and Seth succeeded him. Seth died, and Enosh[58] The text has Hēnos. succeeded him and then died. Kenan succeeded him and then died. Mahalalel succeeded him and died. Jared succeeded him and died. Enoch succeeded then and died not.[59] This refers to Enoch’s translation to Heaven (I Enoch 70:1-4; ll Enoch 67:2). God placed him in the Garden of ʾĒldā[60] See Jubilees 4:23, where the text adds that “there he writes down the condemnation and judgment of the world.” whence He had driven Adam. And Enoch will be there until the Savior comes.[61] This is probably a Christian element.
6. This is the Book of Israel, concerning the greatness and the glory of the Sabbath of Israel. God sanctified the Sabbath, glorified it, and blessed it through the Holy Spirit. The Lord exalted and glorified it as He did all of His creation: the heavens and the earth. He finished His work in (six) days and rested on the seventh day and established it as the Sabbath.[62] Gen 2:1-3. Therefore God blessed the seventh day and kept it holy, as He said: “Sanctify God on this day, let us be glad and rejoice on this day. Serve God on the Sabbath. Why then should you work and busy yourselves when God exalted, glorified, and sanctified this day? After your death, what excuse will you use? On that day, He will send into Hell those of you who did not rest on the Sabbath.[63] In Hell Moses sees the sinners who profaned the Sabbath and the holy days (M. Gaster, “Hebrew Visions of Hell and Paradise,” IRAS [1893]: P. 582). He will cast you into the fiery furnace and will lead you where the worm sleeps not and the fire is never quenched.[64] Isa. 66:24; Apoc. Paul, Sec. 42 (James, p. 547). There the fiery furnace will be poured out[65] The text has the negation ʾi-. upon the sinners and the wicked, without pause, day and night; they will neither lie down nor ever sleep.[66] Legends, 2, 311; 3, 240. God brought you and gave you the Sabbath and the New Moon. They will measure out to you thirteen (times more) with the measure you used.”[67] The text is corrupt.
God’s justice [?] will rejoice in Heaven with the Sabbath of Israel. The Sabbath will rise from her seat on Friday at dawn; the spirit of God will descend through the seven heavens and will then rise. Then the archangels will crown the Sabbath of God, and the priests of Heaven will leap for joy. The spirit of God will come on Friday at the ninth hour. Ninety thousand angels will crown[68] This reflects the appellations “Queen” and “Bride” found in agadic writings. the Sabbath of God and will bring her down from on high. Because of her all will rejoice like calves, and all the angels of Heaven will be glad because of the greatness, the splendor, and the glory of the Sabbath of God.[69] ”It is the Sabbath of the Lord” (Lev. 23:3). Philo, “A Treatise of the Cherubim,” Sec. 26, The Works of Philo Judaeus (trans. C. D. Yonge [London, 1854]), I, 197, also says, “And on this account, too, Moses calls the Sabbath, which name being interpreted means ‘rest,’ the Sabbath of God.” See also, Troje, Sanbat, pp. 347 ff. The Sabbath will look upon the souls of the just in the garden, and they will rejoice on Friday. He who observes, His laws, commandments, and the statutes of the judgment that God has given them upon the earth [will inherit eternal] life. The spirit of God will come into the garden, and the just will rejoice greatly because of the Sabbath of God. The souls of the sinners will love her in order that she may bring them out of Sheol. [They are afflicted] remembering the evil they did on the Sabbath of God. He who shows mercy, prays, and gives aims on the Sabbath and on the day of the New Moon[70] For the Festival of the New Moon, see Jubilees 6:23-28; Amos 8:5; and “New Moon,” JE, 9, 243-244. According to the [Beta Israel] themselves, “Moïse ordonne de faire le qʷērbān ou sacrifice de froment avec l’agneau d‘un an, et nos prêtres font ces deux sacrifices à chaque nouvelle lune et à chaque grande fête. L’adjonction du vin est ordonnée par Moïse; si nous en manquons, nous employons la bière” (Luzzatto, Mémoire, p. 54). of the seventh Sabbath[71] The seventh Sabbath is greatly honored by the [Beta Israel] (Luzzatto, Mémoire, pp. 48-49; Aescoli, pp. 30-31). The Samaritans, too, honor the seventh Sabbath (H. Petermann, De Legibus Samaritanorum). will have his sins forgiven,[72] To be read yāstasri according to H. as will he who seeks not revenge upon others and places not resentment in his heart.
Thou shalt not argue or dispute on my Sabbath.[73] See below, p. 20. I am God. Pray to God, your Lord, you who have sins and faults, and you will be saved through the Sabbath. He who honors the Sabbath and the festivals, God will honor him in Heaven.[74] For the rewards promised to those who observe the Sabbath, see also, Legends, 3, 47, and passim.
Like a laden ship which none can move for the greatness of the goods therein but which when steered runs like a deer, even so will he be eased who has many sins, faults, and misdeeds but who showed mercy and prayed on the Sabbath of God.
God said to the archangel Michael: “Go down to Sheol for the sake of the Sabbath rest.” When the Sabbath rises from the right hand of God, Friday at dawn, the angels rise immediately with the Sabbath and crown her. While they praise, glorify, and honor her, they fear and tremble greatly. They descend from the heavens on Friday at the ninth hour of the evening. The spirit of God says to Michael: “Go down into Sheol for the sake of the rest of the Sabbath, my appointed one,[75] The text has “at the ninth hour of the evening of Friday.” in order to bring out those who are in Sheol.”[76] That the sinners leave Hell on the Sabbath and are not punished on that day is well known in Jewish writings (M. Caster, “Orḥot ḥayyim,” JRAS [1867], p. 604: “on the eve of the Sabbath, the sinners are led to two mountains of snow where they are left until the end of the Sabbath, when they are taken back and returned to their former places”); see also, A. Jellinek, Beṯ Hammiḏraš (1853), I, 74, 148; Legends, 4, 201; 5, 112. For more rabbinical material see Strack-Billerbeck, Kommentar, 4, 1076, 1082-1083; L. Lévy, “Le Repos sabbatique des âmes damnés,” REJ, 25, 1-15. Troje, Sanbat, p. 336, sees here a gnostic influence. The same belief is found in some Christian sources which state that the souls rest on Sunday, and in Moslem eschatology, which says that the souls rest on Friday (Asin, Islam, pp. 223 ff.; see also, Arturo Graf, Mitti, leggende e superstizioni del Medio Evo [1892], l, 241 ff.). Michael thereupon descends into Sheol with the angels on Friday at the ninth hour until the following Sabbath morning. Ninety thousand archangels and thousands and myriads of their hosts are with him. They descend into Sheol to bring out those who are in it, beginning on Friday at the ninth hour. The angels give rest to the souls of men until Sunday morning.[77] This may also reflect the Christian idea that the souls of the damned rest on Sunday. We read, however, in J. A. Eisenmenger, The Traditions of the Jews (1734), 2, 281: “It is recommended that one leave a table covered with provisions and decent furniture, to stand, as in readiness for company, till Sunday morning.” When they leave Sheol remains desolate, like an abandoned wife; even so is Hell empty.
They who observe not the Sabbath, the festivals, and the New Moon,[78] The whole passage is translated according to H. and the (other) sinners, are eaten by worms[79] I Enoch 46:6; Apoc. Peter, Akhm. Fr., Sec. 25 (James, p. 509). For the rabbinical literature, see Strack-Billerbeck, Kommentar, 4, 1076, 1080. and remain in Sheol. They shout, saying: “Abandon us not, O Michael; we remain alone.” When Michael hears the lamentations and the words of the sinners,[80] Some obscure words follow. he says to them: “Where are you?” They answer Michael: “Hell has strangled our throats so that we may not speak with thee.” [Another] soul says to Michael: “Hell has scaled our throats.”[81] An obscure passage follows.
God said to Michael: “Go and bring the souls of the just into the garden, at the ninth hour on Friday!” Michael went as God commanded him. He gathered the souls of the just and brought them before God. God said: “Be blessed,” and the Lord of Heaven and earth blessed them, gave them favor and grace, dressed them in garments of life,[82] I Enoch 62:16; Asc. Is. 8:26; 9:8; 11:14. and brought them into the Heavenly Kingdom. And as for those of the just who had committed no sins when their souls left the body, God gathers them each according to His justice; He appears to them in His glory while their faces shine seven times brighter than the sun. Those who turned to God and repented of their sins have the appearance of the stars,[83] The face shining as the sun and the stars is well known in apocryphal writings: II Enoch 66:7; II Baruch 51:10; IV Ezra 7:97, 125. of Orion, and of the lightning.
The Sabbath of Israel said to God, the Lord of Heaven and earth: “I brought Thee those who believe in me and Thee, show mercy to them for my sake.” God answered the Sabbath: “I pity them for thy sake,” and He sent them away without shame or humiliation.[84] Mediation and intercession are known themes in all faiths: see A. J. Maclean, “Intercession,” Enc. Rel. Ethics, 7, 382—385. For the Old Testament see instances such as Job 5:1; 33:23; Zech. 1:12, etc. On mediation in the apocryphal writings see Volz, Eschatologie, index under “Fürbitte,” and W. O. E. Oesterley, Jewish Doctrines of Mediation (1910). The Sabbath as mediator seems to be a specific [Beta Israel] element; cf. “Un Falacha disait à M. d’Abbadie: ‘Marie est la médiatrice des chrétiens, notre médiateur est le Samedi'” (Lumtto. Mémoire, p. 47). For Ugaritic see now J. Obermann, “How Daniel Was Blessed with a Son,” JAOS, Offprint Series, No. 20 (1946), pp. 13, 28 f.
There is no seat for anyone in Paradise save by (the will of) God, by His Holy Spirit. It is destined for those who kept their body in purity,[85] Baruch, p. 65. The text has a negation. for the virgin who knew not a man, and for the man who knew not a woman from his youth until the end of his days and who married not.[86] The passage is corrupt.
The priests of Heaven bring incense before His holy throne at all times, without pause, and God says: “Enter with them openly into the Heavenly Kingdom, you, men just and pure in body (who keep) from committing sins, and watch over your souls. Come, you who are in no respect willful or perverse.”
When God comes on the last day in the midst of earthquakes and thunderbolts,[87] Sib. Oracles, 5:345. See also, Volz, Eschatologie, pp. 318 ff. seated upon His twelve thrones[88] Allusions to the throne of God are found in the Old Testament (Ps. 9:5, etc.) and in the apocryphal literature (Voiz. Eschatologie, p. 276), but nowhere are twelve thrones mentioned. Halévy, Těʾězāza, p. 141, n. 1, suggests that this number corresponds to the twelve tribes of Israel. However. twelve thrones of the apostles occur in the New Testament (Luke 22:30) and are also mentioned in the Book of Bartholomew (p. 185). to judge, He will be faithful to those who love Him. As He said in the Book of the Law: “All those who keep my Sabbath and profane it not are my chosen sacrifice and offerings.”
Sabbath means: I am God. “It is not the day, but I (who say it),” says God.[89] A very interesting passage and difficult to interpret. Halévy, Těʾězāza, p. 141, n. 2, explains it the following way: “Peut-être: Sanbat signifie: ‘Je suis Dieu’ (c’est-à-dire: En acceptant le Sabbat, vous m’acceptez comme votre Dieu); ce n’est pas le jour qui dit: ‘Je suis Dieu,’ c’est Dieu qui dit cela de lui-même. Cette remarque semble vouloir empêcher Ia déification réelle de Sanbat.” See also, Abba Elijah, p. 45.
The men who came out of Sheol, with their necks tied in chains of fire, and the souls that Michael brought out, flee and run and rest neither day nor night. The souls of the sinners that Michael brought out of Sheol on Friday reach the limits of Heaven and earth, and it seems to them that they will never more return. Michael brings them out of the fiery furnace that is never quenched, and they run from east to west, to the south and to the north. And Michael says to the souls of the sinners: “Come, beginning Friday,” and they move on Friday by God’s order.
This punishment is preferable to Sheol, and it is better to keep the Sabbath and the day of the New Moon than to go down into Sheol.[90] The text is somewhat obscure. If we observe the rest on the Sabbath of God, without praying to and worshiping the celestial King, day and night, at every hour, who will tell the punishment of Hell in this world?
The angels of Heaven say:
“Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord of Sabaoth;
The whole earth[91] Taken from H. is full of Thy praise.
The hosts of the angels praise Him and say:
The human kind, the earthy one, is vanquished[92] Halévy, Těʾězāza, p. 142, translates, “L’homme mortel et formé de poussière a été vaincu,” and adds, “Il est impossible de méconnaître le caractère spiritualiste et décidemment antichrétien de cette profession de foi mise dans la bouche des anges.”
He who dies not forever is victor.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!
He is holy, praised, and glorified forever.”
Six days shalt thou labor, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God. In it you shall do no work, neither you, nor your women, nor your sons, nor your daughters, nor your menservants, nor your maidservants, nor your cattle, nor your family, not the strangers that are with you.[94] Exod. 20:9-10. He who labors in it shall die.[95] Exod. 35:2.
כׇּל־הַ֣מְּחַלֵּ֔ל בַּיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּ֖ה יוּמָֽת׃
He who profanes this day [shall die].[96] On the [Beta Israel] rules concerning the Sabbath see Aescoli, pp. 30-39; for the rules observed by the Zadokite sect see Ginzberg, Jüdische Sekte, pp. 152 ff.
He who lies with his wife on the Sabbath shall die.[97] This is not recommended by Jewish law but is practiced by the Karaites and Samaritans (Beer, Buch der Jubiläen, pp. 53-54); for the [Beta Israel] see Luzzatto, Mémoire, p. 46. See also, F. Bohn, Der Sabbat im Alten Testament (1903), pp. 77-80, Jubilees, p. 259, n. 8.
He who argues or speaks aloud[98] ”Dès que l’aurore de samedi a paru on ne parle qu’à demi voix” (Luzzatto, Mémoire, p. 45). Speaking loud, making noise, and playing music are prohibited on the Sabbath; for the passages in talmudic literature see E. G. Hirsch, “Sabbath,” JE, 10, 593. or seeks[99] To be read xasis instead of gasis. a quarrel, he who buys or sells on that day, shall die.
He who draws water from a streaming spring[100] Jubilees 50:8; Zadokite Work 13:11; it is it is also forbidden by the Karaite sect (J. M. Jost, Geschichte des Judentums, 2, 304). For the [Beta Israel] see Luzzatto, Mémoire, p. 45. or who argues or curses or blasphemes on that day shall die.
He who carries anything, who takes something from his tent or brings something into it, shall die.[102] Jer. 17:21-22; Jubilees 2:30; see also, Legends, 4, 114; 6, 327. Several words are obscure.
You shall do no work whatever on the Sabbath but (use) that which you prepared [on Friday]. Sabbath is the day on which to eat, to drink, to be satiated, to be filled with drink,[103] To be read rawiy as in A instead of nawim of H. to rest…[104] For Jewish writings on this subject see Strack-Billerbeck, Kommentar, 1, 611; 2, 202. to study,[105]Legends, 6, 70, n. 360; J. L. Baruch, Sefer haššabbaṯ (Tel Aviv, 1936), pp. 27-28, where the talmudic and agadic writings are cited. to lie down, to be quiet, to celebrate, and to worship without doing any work.
God, your Lord, blessed [that day] that He gave you as a festival, a day of government [?], a holy day, and a blessed day. [He gave it] to all Israel, for all your days. For great is the deed of God who gave to Israel (that day on which) to eat, to drink, to be satiated, and to be filled with drink. This day is a festival, to rest from all human labor save the bringing of sacrifices, incense, offerings, and gifts before God on the Sabbaths,[106]Legends, 3, 196, 201, 209; Jubilees 50:10-11. the festivals, and the day of the New Moon. You shall do this on the Sabbath in the sanctuary of God, your Lord, in order that He may forgive Israel. The offerings (shall be brought) at your festivals, as He commanded you, one day after another, as a memorial offered before God, who will accept them…
He who works on my Sabbath, travels or goes on a journey,[107] Jubilees 50:12, derived from Exod. 16:29. For the [Beta Israel] see Luzzatto, Mémoire, p. 45. does any work in his field[108] Exod. 34:21. Working in the field is one of the thirty-nine principal classes (ʾaḇoṯ, “fathers”) of work prohibited on the Sabbath. or in his house, kindles the fire,[109] Jubilees 50:12; Exod. 35:3. It is also forbidden by the Samaritans. sits in the sun[110] This occurs in several passages of our text, but a defense of this kind is rather singular. [shall die].
He who rides on any beast[111] E. G. Hirsch, “Sabbath,” JE, 10, 592. or travels on a boat, he who strikes or kills[112] Jubilees 50:12. This is one of the sabbatical offenses. or fornicates, shall die.
He who slaughters[113] To be read yěḥarrěd instead of yěḥadděr. a beast or kills a bird or catches animals on my Sabbath shall die.[114] Taken from H. Jubilees 50:12.
כׇּל־צָ֥ם בַּשַּׁבָּ֖ת יוּמָֽת׃
He who fasts on the Sabbath shall die.[115] According to H. See also, Jubilees 50:12; Legends, 4, 374; Strack-Billerbeck, Kommentar, 4, 89-91, 95. 98. For the [Beta Israel] see also, J. Faitlowitch, Quer durch Abessinien, p. 86. Fasting on the Sabbath is allowed only on the Day of Atonement.
He who does any manner of work on my Sabbath shall die. Thus shall the children of Israel be holy and celebrate the Sabbath according to the commandments as they are written on the two tables which God gave to me that I might write down the law for thee from now on and throughout all the generations.[116] Jubilees 50:13.
Sabbath said to God: “Hearken to me, O Lord, (and let me say) but one word. I was with Thee when Thou didst create the Heaven[117] See also below, p. 32. “It may be noted that nowhere in the old rabbinical literature is there to be found a trace of the mystical concept of the Sabbath occurring in Philo, “A Treatise on the Life of Moses,” Bk. 3, Sec. 36, The Works of Philo Judaeus (trans. C. D. Yonge [London, 1854]), 3, 130 [not Sec. 33 as in Legends, 5, 111], according to which this most distinguished day dates not from the creation of the world but from the time when heaven and all the perceptible universe were as yet uncreated. It is only in Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer (1709), sec. 3, that the Sabbath is counted among the things which existed in the thought of God prior to the creation of the world” (Legends, 5, 111). and didst establish the earth upon the rocks with Thy wisdom. Every creature in Heaven, in the sea, on the dry land, and in the rivers was created by Thy wisdom. O Lord, give me Thy consent and send me not to the unjust,[118] The obscure qawāmyān, “they who stand,” of H is missing in A. the slanderers,[119] To be read ḥamāyān. the quarrelsome, and the treacherous. Drive me not away toward those who strike me with their spittle,[120] Probably to be read měrāqomu as in H instead of měsrāq as in A. who sit in the sun,[121] See also above, p. 20; to be read manbaromu as in H instead of manbabamu as in A. who wash not with water,[122] It is recommended that one wash his face and hands on the Sabbath. who lie with women, who purify not their manners, who cover not their…, who throw away their spittle, quench not their fire, and accept not my commandments. As to their women, they knead their dough, they cook,[123] Kneading dough and cooking are among the thirty-nine labors prohibited on the Sabbath. See above, n. 119. draw water, crush in the mortar, shout, neglect my commandments, and rebuke their neighbors.”[124] In H all these words are in the negative.
God said to Moses:[125] Here H has a text which does not belong to our passage. A repeats some words of the preceding section. “He who worships a graven or molten image that is impure shall die.[126] Deut. 27:15 ff., and other passages in the Old Testament. He who lies with his neighbor’s wife shall die. He who uncovers his father’s nakedness shall die.[127] However the text in Deut. 27:20 says, “Cursed be he that lieth with his father’s wife; because he uncovereth his father’s skirt.” He who despises his father and his mother shall die. He who lies with his sister shall die. He who divines or asks divination by charms shall die. He who profanes the Sabbath shall die. He who worships a human being shall die. He who speaks evil[128] Read ḥěsuma according to H. against God shall die. He who gives his children into the service of princes that may kill them shall die. He who listens [not][129] The text has “who listens.” to the words of the covenant shall die. He who steals, lies, or bears false witness against his neighbor shall die. He who removes his neighbor’s landmarks or (steals) his riches, who makes the blind wander out of the way, who perverts the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and the widow, who oppresses and takes by force, who deceives and slanders his neighbor, who speaks peace with his neighbor deceitfully and hates him in his heart, who… the arrogant ones, who bears false witness or gives false information.”
By all these deeds man shall perish. By deeds of justice, alms, and prayers man shall live. By boasting, injustice, and bad deeds man shall perish. He who loves this world, in eight days… He who loves the last day, [despising] the ephemeral world, will inherit life that has neither limit nor count. Justice will be profitable for the soul of the just, the deeds of the sinner will work against his soul.
8. Because of the number [of the sinners] whom He brings into Hell, God has created an angel, a great eagle named Tāni.[130] A curious and quite obscure legend. Aescoli, p. 95, suspects an Egyptian origin. His residence is as (large as) a land, and he was appointed for the sinners. God said to the eagle: “Go and measure the limits of the residence,[131] To be read maḥdaru instead of maḥdagu. from all sides, for the sinners who enter the pit of Gehenna.”[132] Abba Elijah, p. 44. The great eagle said to the King of Heaven and earth, who created Heaven, the earth, the sea, and the dry land: “O terrible Lord, who releasest the souls of the angels! Hell with its hosts and precipices[133] According to H. is terrible. I shall follow him.” God [threw] behind the eagle hailstones of fire and wheels of flashing fire, and they were frightened and became liquid. The eagle flew from God’s dwelling and stayed away for twenty years. And having risen and fled from God’s dwelling and from the sinners of Hell,[134] According to H. he returned to God from the pit of Hell. The souls of the sinners arrive at the place where they… and are tortured by their enemies from above who suspend them in Hell. They are grieved while their souls wither away from sickness and ordeals, and they say: “Destroy us not when we come into Hell, while still with flesh…” and he passes them. The souls of the just who observed the commandments, the law of life, say (to the eagle): “Ask God, ‘When will we be rewarded before Thee, O Lord?'”
And the eagle returned to God, his Creator, who sent him. He was emaciated and became like the breath of the lean-fleshed turtledove. He came being small (in appearance), his wings hung down, his bones showed their bare points. And the angel, the eagle, said to God: “O Lord, Thou alone art great, holy, and praised, O terrible Lord!” God said to the eagle: “Didst thou travel unto the limits of Hell,[135] The text has “of the sea.” in its length and width?” The eagle said: “I reached it not in the twenty years (I was away) until today.” God said to the great eagle: “What happened to thee?” The eagle said to God, his Creator: “It is because I saw the calamities of Hell, its precipices, its legions of fire, the fiery rugged places, and the hawks of fire.”[136] According to H. The eagle said again to God: “I saw the punishment of Hell, and all its legions. I arrived[137] The text has “I brought.” at the place where the souls of the sinners are suspended on entering Hell. Vultures of fire and tigers of fire cast down the sinners from the borders of Hell into the pit of Hell like stones, and they rose not. fiery tigers seized the hosts of sinners as crocodiles seize men in the midst of the waters. They die not, for they have souls in their bodies and hearts with which they devise good and evil. They tell their deeds,[138] To be read měgbāromu as suggested by Halévy, Těʾězāza, p. 146. and they see all the sins they have committed before Him. None of the sins are hidden.[139] According to H. Our text has waʾiyětbatak. Those who observed not the commandments of life are subjected to Hell because of their sins. As for (eternal) life, it has no end, no measure, and no limit for those who observe the commandments of life so that they may live. Those who observed not (the commandments) shall die in Sheol, and there is no limit to it.”[140] Taken from H. Apoc. Paul, Sec. 32 (James, p. 543).
9. On the day when God reprimands the children of Adam the Sabbath will stand at the entrance of Hell in the valley of fire[141] H has qěst instead of ʾěsāt as in A. For the name “valley of fire” cf. I Enoch 54:1, “a deep valley with burning fire”; 67:4, “burning valley.” and will say: “By God! May the just not be separated from the sinners before I separate them for my sake.[142] The sentence is obscure. I shall inform Thee of those who rest not and observe not my laws.” God said to her: “Numerous are those who committed sins before me.” The Sabbath said to God: “Remember not the sins of Thy servants after they observed Thy Sabbath. Thou hast given me for a witness to the peoples, and Thou hast said through the mouth of Thy servant Moses: ‘My Sabbath you shall keep, for it is a sign between you and me throughout your generations.'[143] Exod. 31:13. And Thou hast said: ‘You shall keep my Sabbath, for it is holy and a rest unto you, and later it will be a witness.[144]Ibid. Their other faults will not be reprimanded. Verily, I shall forget their sins because of thee,[145] To be read ʾanta as in H instead of ʾěsāt as in A. my witness.’ Thou shalt not count them among the infidels because of their faults, and Thou shalt not couple them with the unjust. I conjure Thee by Thy glory. Thou hast granted it to me, and Thou wilt not deny it because of Thy justice. I, Thy Sabbath, rose on that day to deliver my menservants and maidservants from among the living [?][146] To be read perhaps hayāděyān, “oppressors.” and the wicked, for I am merciful. How can he be clean that is born of woman? Not even the sun and the moon are clean before Thee![147] Job 25:4. O Lord, permit me to deliver my servants forever, without limit. Amen.”
God said to the Sabbath: “I shall not confound thee and shall not refuse thee what thou hast asked of me.[148] The text of A is not clear. I grant thee everything that is thine. I say it truly in the name of my justice and of my Sabbath. And now may they have respite from Hell on that day, since the Sabbath is the witness for those who observe it.”[149] Translated according to H. The text of A is different. Sabbath said to God: “Grant me (it).”
O people, come all of you who observe my law and my rest! They will enjoy[150] The text has “see.” a rest without limit and the happiness of the just. They will have respite from the mouth of Hell.[151] II Baruch 59:10, “mouth of Gehenna.” On that holy day, on the Sabbath,[152] A has “because of the Sabbath.” they will live in joy. They will not see[153] The text of A has “they will see.” strife,[154] H has here qědděst, which does not yield any meaning. nor will the noise of strife be heard. They who, because of the Sabbath, gave to eat, will eat. Justice is good. Alms are good. The Sabbath is good. Silence on Sabbath is good.[155] Prov. 10:19. On midrashic and talmudic references see Strack-Billerbeck, Kommentar, 3, 753. The doing of justice on the Sabbath is good. Nothing is like the Sabbath. Mercy and alms are greater than all. Justice is good. Humility before God[156] For exhortation to humility see Sirach 7:4-7. and patience are good. Kindness is good. True judgment is good. Worshiping [is good]. Nothing can vie with the Sabbath and the observance of the commandments. There is no other commandment like it that can deliver the soul of man from the punishment of Hell. The Sabbath is good. Above all, God loves those who observe the Sabbath. The Sabbath is good. Above all, God hates those who observe not the Sabbath. The Sabbath is better than all the commandments.[157] According to the Talmud the law of the Sabbath is equal to all the other laws and commandments of the Torah. For the several passages, see Strack-Billerbeck, Kommentar, 1, 905; J. L. Baruch, Sefer haššabbaṯ, pp. 242-246. The Sabbath is good. The man who is against me, O God, is he who observes not the commandments of the Sabbath and its precepts and who believes not.
10. Praise be to God in the council of His glory. He alone is holy and just and there is none like Him. The angels of Heaven, Michael, Gabriel, and Fānuʾēl[158] H has Rāguʾēl. Fanuʾēl is mentioned in I Enoch 40:9 as one “who is set over the repentance unto hope of those who inherit eternal life.“ In I Enoch 54:6 Fānuʾēl together with Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael casts the hosts of Azazel into the burning furnace; see also, I Enoch 71: 8, 9, 13. The name occurs also in I Chron. 4:4; 8:25. A holy day of the archangel Fānu’ēl is celebrated by the Ethiopians on the 3rd of Tāxsās. and their hosts praise Him and call Him: ʾĒl, Waʾēl, ’ʾĒlohē, Malʾēhē, Lahē, Lohē,[159] The same passage occurs in the Prayers of the Falashas. All the names of God are variants of ʾĒl, ʾĒlohē. Instead of Lohē, H has ʾĒlwāhē. H has also (la) yolsādēy to be connected with the Old Testament ʾel šadday. ʾAdonai Sabaoth. Holy, Holy, Holy is God of Sabaoth, the King. All the earth is filled with Thy glory.[160] Ps. 72:19; Isa. 6:13 O Lord! And the stars of Heaven praise Him with intelligence.[161] H has “in their hearts.”
Holy and praised is the Lord of Sabaoth. He is living. All the earth is filled with Thy glory, and there is none like Thee in the heavens above and on the earth below. All the earth is filled with Thy glory, and He is praised by the angels of Heaven, the angels of the abysses, the angels of the springs, the angels of the wind, the angels of the snow, the angels of hail, the angels of fire, the angels of hoarfrost, the angels of the storm, the angels of winter, the angels of summer, the angels who serve mankind, the angels who ride upon chariots and upon fire, the angels on high, the angels of the sea, and those who administer the fire,[162] Jubilees 2:3. and they say to Him: “He made and created Adam after His likeness, and made an everlasting covenant with Noah. He shows His mercy unto thousands, He the merciful and gracious, long- suffering, and abundant in mercy, the just.[163] Exod. 34:6. Our fathers Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Samuel, Elijah, and Elisha praised Him.
11. When God fashioned and made Adam, He took clay from the land of Dudālēm. He also took fire, wind, and water, crushed stones,[164] According to H. and made Adam.[165] See above, p. 13. He made bones in his members, tied them up with nerves, covered the body with skin, blew into him a holy breath, and Adam became a living being.[166] Cf. the Arabic concept in Mohammedanische Eschatologie, ed. M. Wolff (1872), p. 11. He walked with his feet, his knees were strengthened, and he spoke with his tongue.[167] Beginning here the text of H is used. Manuscript A ends on the next folio. God created the feet that man may walk, the hands that he may grasp, the eyes that he may see, the ears that he may hear, the tongue that he may speak, the nose that he may smell, and the heart that he may think, and an agreeable world in which to live.
God put [Adam] in the Garden of Pleasure to keep it and to eat of its fruits and to live in it forever without laboring or watering it or working.[168] See above, n. 50. Gen. 2:15 states, however, that God put Adam into the Garden of Eden to dress it and keep it; see also, Jubilees 2:9. There were (trees in it) the fruit of which fell not, whose leaves faded not, whose roots dried not, nor ceased to yield fruit. But Adam lost the way of life and transgressed the commandments of his Creator. God sent him forth from the Garden of Pleasure and delight to till the earth and keep it, to eat the herb of the field by the sweat of his brow, the labor of his body, and the pain of his soul, for he transgressed the commandments of his Creator. And Adam and his seed lived in labor and in the pain of their bodies. Their affliction became greater.
Noah found grace in the sight of God, for[169] The words xabʾo ʾĚgziʾāběḥěr do not see to yield any meaning. he was just in his deeds and in his belief. God gave him the sign of peace and established an everlasting covenant with him that He will no more destroy the earth because of the deeds of mankind.[170] Gen. 6:8, 8:21.
Then Thou didst appear to Abraham, and Thou didst love him until the end of the world, him and you [?], to bless him and to multiply his seed as the stars of the Heaven and as the sands on the sea(shore). From among his seed Thou hast established a covenant with Isaac who purified his body from the spot of sin; and with Jacob, His beloved. As God brought forth Noah [from the ark] with His advice and wisdom at the time of the flood, so He brought forth Abraham from the country of the Chaldeans.
The wise of Canaan said (to Nimrod): “Behold, Terah will beget a son who will pervert and destroy the precepts of Canaan.”[171] The birth of Abraham “had been read in the stars by Nimrod… and it was manifest to him that a man would be born in his days who would rise against him and triumphantly give the lie to his religion” (Legends, 1, 186; Beer, Leben Abrahams, p. 2). And while they divined, Terah begat a son and called him Abraham. He put him into a cavern of his house for seven years,[172] Abraham was hidden in the cave in order that he might escape being killed by Nimrod who, like Pharaoh in the story of Moses, ordered all the new-born boys to be killed (Legends, 1, 187 ff.). For other accounts of Abraham’s youth see Legends, 5, 209, n. 13; Beer, Leben Abrahams, pp. 2-31. According to some of the legends Abraham remained in the cave three, ten, or thirteen years (Beer, Leben Abrahams, p. 3), or seven days (Legends, 1, 189). In our text the seven years perhaps are actually seven days. and then he let him go out one night. Abraham saw the moon and the stars and said: “They shall be my masters, and I shall worship them.” The second night he saw the moon and worshiped it. When the moon set and it became dark Abraham said: “Neither the moon nor the stars are gods.” Terah again put him into the cave. His heart[173] The text has “intelligence.” was boiling, and he went out the third day at noon. He saw the sun, worshiped it, and said: “The sun will be my God, its light is the brightest.” But when the sun set it became dark and the sun disappeared. Abraham turned his face toward the east and said: “Be my God, Thou who hast created everything, and I shall not Worship another, but Him who has created the sun and the moon.”[174]Legends, 1, 189, 212-213; 5, 110, n. 16; Beer, Leben Abrahams, p. 3. According to another opinion he attained the true knowledge of God when he was forty-eight years old (K. Kohler, “Abraham,” JE, 1, 85).
Abraham saw all the idols which Terah had made. He took an ax and clove the carved idols and broke them to pieces and laid the ax on the neck of one of them.[175] According to other legends Abraham put the hatchet in the hand of the biggest god among them (Legends, 1:24; Beer, Leben Abrahams, p. 11). When Terah saw the broken idols he shouted and said: “Who [did] all this?” They said to him: “We know not.” Terah said: “I know who did this,” and he called Abraham and said to him: “Why hast thou broken my idols?” Abraham said: “It was not I but this great god who broke them because of jealousy. Behold, the ax is on his neck. And thou worshipest him!” Terah said: “This one cannot break (anything).”[176] This is more explicitly explained in Legends, 1, 214-215: “Terah said: ‘Is there spirit, soul, or power in these gods to do all thou hast told me? Are they not wood or stone? And have I not myself made them?'” [Abraham said]: “Why then dost thou worship him? A man kills even his son or his father through submission to this idol and zeal for it.” Terah said: “Verily, I know that my son will abolish the religion of Canaan.” He sent him to Nimrod, the king of Canaan, and he said to him: “This is how my son acts, he hates my idols and has broken them.” Nimrod said to him: “Is it true, what he has said? Come, let us worship this idol.” Abraham refused [and said]: “My God is in Heaven. It is He who has created the sun, the moon, the heavens, and the earth. He who appoints thee king is in Heaven.” Nimrod said: “I shall ascend into Heaven and kill him whom thou callest thy God.” He took arrows and a bow,[177] It is known that Nimrod was a hunter (Gen. 10:9). rode upon the vultures, put a piece of meat upon their heads so that he would not miss the way— this was a remedy—and they ascended straight before them. When he reached the clouds an eagle saw the meat above his head. Nimrod pierced the eagle above his head [with an arrow]. He then collected the arrows, descended to Abraham and said to him: “Behold the blood of God, I killed Him.”[178] This corrupt account is to be traced back to an Arabic source as related in Ṭabari, Chronique, 1, 148-150, and in al-Kisāʾi, Vita propetarum, 1, 140-141. It is summed up in Weil, Biblical Legends, pp. 76-77, as follows: “Nimrod resolved to build a lofty tower, wherewith, if possible, to scale the heavens. and to search therein for the God of Abraham. The tower rose to a height of five thousand cubits; but as heaven was still far off, and the workmen were unable to proceed with the building, Nimrod caught two eagles and kept them upon the tower several days, and when they were ravenous with hunger, he fastened to their feet a light, closed palanquin, with one window above and another below, and seated himself in it with one of his huntsmen. The latter took a long spear, to which a bit of flesh was attached, and thrust it through the upper window, so that the famished eagles flew instantly upward bearing the palanquin aloft. When they had flown toward heaven for a whole day Nimrod heard a voice which cried to him: ‘Godless man, whither goest thou?’ Nimrod seized his huntsman’s bow, and discharged an arrow, which forthwith fell back through the window stained with blood, and this reprobate man believed that he had wounded the God of Abraham.” Abraham said: “My God dies not. It is He who causes to die.”[179] To be read yāqěttěl instead of ʾěqětěl. Nimrod said: “Will a rebellious son come from the seed of Terah?” They said: “We heard it.”
Nimrod sent a thousand camels into the field to cleave trees, had a pit [?] dug on a hill [?], and the trees thrown upon it, and spread everything that the thousand [camels] carried and set it on fire. He said: “O Abraham, let us worship this idol, or perhaps thou dost not want to?” Abraham was obstinate and refused. Nimrod said to him: “I shall surely cast [thee] into the oven and burn thee in the flames.” Abraham heeded it not and would not change his mind and worship the idol. He threw him[180] The text has “them.” into the flames.[181] Beer, Leben Abrahams, p. 14; Legends, 1, 216. For references in Jewish writings alluding to Abraham’s having been cast into the fiery furnace see Jubilees, note p. 91: “The idea that Abraham was cast into a fiery furnace arose from a literal interpretation of Gen. 15:7: ‘I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees,’ where Ur was taken to mean ‘fire.'” The notion that the wood for the fire was carried by various animals—camels, mules, and donkeys—is mentioned in the Arabic legends (D. Sidersky, Les origins des legends musulmanes dans les Coran, p. 32). God said to [Gabriel]:[182] According to some of the legends it was Gabriel who saved Abraham, according to others it was Michael; still others believe that God himself saved Abraham (Legends, 5, 212, n. 33; Beer, Leben Abrahams, p. 16). “Go down and hit the flames of fire.” And he became water[183] The word tamayta is not found in the dictionaries. It is perhaps a denominative of may, “water,” and means “[the fire] became water.” that quenched the fire [?] of the oven. From that day until today it is called Kalādēwon.[184] This refers to ʾur kasdim of Gen. 15 7, interpreted as “the furnace of the Kasdim = Chaldees” (Halévy, Těʾězāza, note p. 152; Legends, 1, 299). (It recalls) what God had said to the children of Israel: “It is I who brought you forth[185] The text has “who lets you come.” from Egypt.”
He named him Abraham.[186] Probably an allusion to Gen. 17:4 where the name of Abram was changed into Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob. The children of Israel, from among the Chaldeans, drank that flame which became water and dried not up, nor ceased from then until now.[187] The passage is obscure. See above. where the fire is quenched by the water.
God tempted Abraham concerning his son Isaac and said to him: “Kill thy son Isaac whom thou lovest and offer him to me.” Abraham said to God: “I shall praise Him who restored[188] The text has “restored me not.” to me what I had not, and I shall give Him [my son].”
Abraham and Isaac went to the place of which God had told him. Abraham took his son and bound him hand and foot to slay him. God said to Abraham: “Lay not thy hand [upon thy son], neither do anything unto him.”[189] The text is obscure. God showed him a ram caught in a thicket, and Abraham sacrificed it in the place of Isaac.[190] Gen. 22. The horn of the ram was big. Elijah will blow it on the Mount of Zion, and its blast will be heard unto the ends of the earth from the setting of the sun to its rising, and the sound of the horn[191] The word sěfur of the text is the Hebrew šofar. will be heard on the Last Day.[192] All the parts of the carcass of the ram were put to use—the ashes, the sinew, the skin, and the horns (Legends, 1, 283).
O Adam, first (of mankind), what hast thou done? Thou[193] Everywhere in this section the text has “he” instead of “thou.” hast guided us to death, Hell, and destruction and hast driven us away from life. Thou hast guided us to Hell, stumbling, and to precipices, for thou hast transgressed the commandments, precepts, and laws that God gave thee in order that thou shouldst not transgress. Thou hast disobeyed His orders not to eat and not to drink certain things and thus hast brought about Hell, the fire of which shall not be quenched and whose worm shall not sleep.
Because of one sin, Adam went out of the garden of joy, but the just Moses put us back into the garden of delight, the Garden of Edom.[194] Perhaps this reflects the notion that Moses supposedly entered Paradise alive (Legends, 5, 96). With him were the just prophets, the priests Aaron, Elijah, Samuel, and the kings David, Hezekiah, and Josiah, saying: “Come back to God who created you the first and the second time, from your birth until your death. Abandon all others and save your souls because God, your Lord, is merciful, long-suffering, abundant in grace and just. He forgives sins and faults.” And after them, the prophets Elijah, Elisha, Haggai, and the priest Zechariah [will come]. The clouds of God always overshadowed them as at the time when the children of Israel went out [of Egypt].[195] Here follows an obscure passage of several lines. It speaks about someone‘s blood having been spilled and boiled.
12. When Aaron made the molten (calf),[196] Exod. 32. God said to Moses: “They who gave him[197] The text has “them.” gold and silver [to make the statue] shall be in one place, separated from those who gave not gold or silver, who believed in God, worshiped Him, and served Him in their hearts. They shall be separated in their lives.”
The anger of Moses was kindled against Aaron, and Aaron said to Moses: “My master, the people said to me: ‘Make us gods to whom we may prostrate ourselves and whom we may worship, since we know not[198]ʾana ʾaʾamměr should be corrected to read ʾinaʾamměr. what has become of Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt.’ I was afraid and said to them: ‘Bring gold and silver and give it to me.’ I gave it to the Silversmith who made of it a molten idol. The people were glad, they ate, enjoyed themselves, and did foolish things.” Moses took the molten idol which they had made, broke it, ground it to powder, and gave it to the children of Israel to drink.[199] The powder was mixed with their drinking water (Koran 2:87). According to Jewish legends Moses threw the powder upon the waters and said, “All that have committed idolatry shall be yours” But the waters were not to be appeased by having the sinners cast into them, and the ocean would not retreat to its bed until Moses made the children of Israel drink of it (Legends, 3, 129-130). Aaron said to Moses: “Not all of them gave me gold and silver, give drink only to those who gave to me.” Moses said to him: “I shall make a sign from the mouths of those who [gave and those who gave] not,” and he gave drink to all Israel.[200] The water caused the idolators great pain and they called upon Moses for help. Then Moses told them to slay one another. He placed himself between those who gave and those who gave not, and they swallowed the gold. Those who gave not [then destroyed?] those who gave gold and silver, and those who had not gold in their mouths were safe, and they became the portion of God. Those who gave gold were the adversaries of God, and they died in punishment to the number of twenty thousand and seven hundred.[201] According to Exod 32:27 three thousand were killed. Those who gave [not] gold died not. [Later on] some of them were proud and haughty, believed not, and were disobedient to Moses. They separated themselves from the camp of Israel, each one from his family and from his brothers; each one with his companions separated himself from the twelve children of Jacob. They numbered one hundred two thousand and ninety and arrived at the plain of ʾIyārēwos[202] Probably reflects the Hebrew ʿir hayyěḇusi. toward the Jordan and Jebus. They encamped there and still abide there until today and are alienated from God, the Lord.
And those who died were saints, and they shall be men of renown on the last day?[203] The passage is not clear; it refers perhaps to those not included in the two groups mentioned before. Many of them worshiped not [the golden calf], fornicated not, and desired not to give gold and silver. They went not awhoring away from God, the Lord. Ever since that day people became accustomed to do evil, to worship foreign gods, to offend me, and to abandon my law and my covenant. But God loves him who repents: the generous, the gentle, the humble, and the just.
13. When the Sabbath rose from her seat on Friday morning six hundred and forty thousand angels followed the Sabbath of God,[204] The passage is slightly corrupt. and the Sabbath worshiped the Creator.[205] Some dittographical words follow. About four thousand and three hundred praised the Sabbath; six hundred and eighty thousand were to her right, eight hundred and eighty thousand to her left. God conversed with the Sabbath. He gave the Sabbath [to Israel] to eat the fruits of the earth, to drink, to rest, to worship, to pray, and to show mercy. God said: “They to whom I gave thee[206] See below, p. 36. The view that the Sabbath was “given” by God “to Israel” is common in rabbinical literature; cf. Tos. Běraḵot, 3, 7; B. Šabbaṯ, 10b. That the Sabbath was given to Israel “to eat the fruits of the earth” is based upon Isa. 58:13. shall descend with thee. They who praise not, are not submissive, invoke not God on my Sabbath, and transgress my laws and commandments shall be coupled with the wicked.”
And God said: “They who honor thee are as if they honored me, who dismiss thee are as if they dismissed me, who serve thee are as if they served me, who receive thee as if they received me, who make of the Sabbath a day of delight are considered as if they had made a loan to me.[207] He who honors the Sabbath is like him who honors me on the throne of my glory,” says God (Targum Yěrušalmi 2; Exodus 20:2) Then I gave all the books of the law to Moses. I, God, wrote with my hands and my holy fingers the two tables of stone on Mount Sinai.” They are written by the fingers of God.[208] The two tables were created by God’s own hand; the writing and the pencils were of heavenly origin (Legends, 3, 119).
The Sabbath said to God: “From Thee come the commandments and the law. [Thou art] the Lord of strength. The just praise Thy name. Thou, O Lord, art the grace of the gentle, Thy name is very good, Thou art the greatness of the humble, Thou art the God of the just. Thy lovingkindness, grandeur, and mercies are with Thee.” God said: “May [the angels] descend with thee.” The Sabbath said to God: “Hearken to me, [listen to] only one word.” God said to his Sabbath: “Yes, I listen to thee. He who celebrates thee[209] The word samʿanni is superfluous. and honors thee more than the other days, will not have his sins remembered.[210] ”Whoever observes the Sabbath properly, even though he be an idol-worshiper as of the generation of Enosh, is forgiven” (B. Šabbaṯ, 118b). He who gives alms on the Sabbath, who receives thee after being washed in water,[211] This is part of the preparation for the celebration of the Sabbath. I permit thee to take him from me. To him who gives alms on the Sabbath of God, I shall give the forty-nine gifts I gave to thee.”[212] The passage is obscure. The number “forty-nine” occurs in connection with Moses who was in charge of the forty-nine gates of wisdom (Legends; 3, 141); Enoch had a crown of forty-nine jewels (ibid., 1, 139); the Torah is interpreted in forty-nine ways (ibid., 2, 325).
The Sabbath left the camp of God. God said to the angels, his servants: “Go, descend with her.” He sent them,[213] The form is corrupt. and the angels followed, numbering two hundred forty thousand and three hundred. They brought[214] The form is corrupt. her to earth. They reported the deeds of men to God on the day which was known to men as the Sabbath and they brought them before God.[215] The sentence is obscure. God rewarded them according to their deeds, their alms, and their praises. God let the angels know their parts.
Nothing should be traded on the Sabbath.[216] Neh. 10:32; Am. 8:5; Jer. 17:21-22. Let us celebrate the seventh year as the Sabbath. The debts of one to the other shall not be repaid in that year and it shall not be considered as sin.[217] Deut. 15:1 EL; see also, “Sabbatical Year and Jubilee.” JE, 10, 605-608. Several words of this sentence are obscure. Concerning the sabbatical year the [Beta Israel] say, “Nous n’observons pas le repos de la septième année parce que nous n’avons pas de patrimoine” (d’Abbadie, “Réponses des Falasha,” Univers Israélite, 6 [1851], 482-483).
Do on Friday the work for your house, as well as for the bread which is to be offered to God.[218] See above, p. xxxiii. Salt shall not be omitted in the sacrifice of the Sabbath of God,[219] Lev. 2:13; Jubilees 21:11; Test. Levi 9:14; Mark 9:49, 50. See also Strack-Billerbeck, Kommentar, 2, 31-32. nor shall the alms [be omitted]. The Sabbath of God is made for offerings of a sweet savor and alms should not be forgotten. Come not empty to God on the Sabbath and on the day of the New Moon;[220] See here, pp. 20, 36. (bring) the tithe at the three festivals of the year (?).[221] Corrupt—perhaps in lieu of “the tenth day of the first month,” for which see Exod. 12:2-3. Note that the tenth of each month is considered a festival by the [Beta Israel] (Luzzatto, Mémoire, p. 66, and Introduction, p. xxx). The children of Levi shall bring tribute to God so that the sins of Israel shall be forgiven, as it is written in the Law of Moses.
The Sabbath descended from Heaven to the earth on Friday at the ninth hour (and remained) until Sunday at the rising of the sun so that the earth might see the deeds of the Sabbath, its commandments, and its laws. The justice of the just, their praises, alms, blessings, and adoration are presented to her on Sunday,[222] This too probably reflects the Christian belief that sinners have respite on Sunday (see n. 87). while the rebellious and the wicked tremble because of their sins.
The Sabbath said to Michael, Gabriel, Rumāʾēl,[223] He is probably identical with Remiel and Ramiel of I Enoch 20:8; II Baruch 55:3; and other apocryphal writings. Box identifies that figure with Jeremiel, Hebrew Yěraḥměʾel (1V Ezra 4:33) and Uriel:[224] Uriel is interpreted as “the fire of God” or “the light of God” (L. Blau, “Uriel,” JE, 12, 383). “Bring to me all those who are mine, who believe in me, who neglect me not, who observe me and accept me.” Michael ran with his hosts, descended, and seized all those who belonged to the Sabbath, as the Sabbath told him. The hosts of Michael fought with the hosts of Běrnāʾēl, and with their nails they took these hypocrites, the host of Hell, by the throat. They drove them to the bottom of Sheol and slapped them[225] For yěṣaʿewomu read yěṣafʿewomu. on the cheeks. They overpowered the hosts of Běrnāʾēl and subjugated them according to their deeds. Michael ascended to the Sabbath and said to her: “The riders of Hell assailed me and took me by force.”[226] The fight of Michael against Běrnāʾēl is also mentioned in the beginning of our text (see p. 12). The punishment of the fallen angels is developed. with many details, in l Enoch. An allusion to the fight of the good angels against the fallen angels is to be found in I Enoch 100:4. In I Enoch 54:6 the angels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Fānuʾēl cast the hosts of Azazel into the fiery furnace.
The Sabbath said to God: “O Lord, my Creator, give me power over those who love me, and over those who are mine, and withhold not my servants from me.” God said to the Sabbath: “I shall give thee all those who are thine, as thou hast asked me, and those who observe the commandments of the Sabbath.” Those who live upon the earth, and observe not the commandments, will be rebuked by God. And for those who fear God, the Sabbath will stand before Him (and defend) the children of Adam on the last day. And she will say to God: “On that day I shall be witness for those who fear me and know me. And as for those who disregard me and know not God, the hosts of Běrnāʾēl will seize them and will throw the sinners into Hell.”
14. God gave the Sabbath to Moses when Israel left Egypt.[227] This probably refers to the laws of the Sabbath. And the Sabbath was with God in His residence from all eternity. She went not from the mouth of God when the spirit of God moved upon the face of waters. She was not visible and was not yet ready.[228] See above, p. 21 and n. 128. Then God divided the light from the darkness, and He called the light day, and the darkness He called night.[229] Gen. 1:1 ff.; Jubilees 2:1 ff. God separated the waters, took them in His hands, blew into them and made the Heaven of Heavens.[230] The text has lakiʿo, “measuring,” and it repeats here “and of the water He made the Heaven with His hands.” [And He let the lights be] for seasons, for days, for years, and for signs and placed them in the firmament of the Heaven to give light upon the earth. And God made the [two] great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night, together with the stars. God created the sun and called it Tomās, ʾUryās, Bawāʾi and Mawāʾi[231] These names are taken from I Enoch 78:1-2 where the names are Oryārês and Tomās for the sun; Asonyā, Eblā, Běnāsē, and Erāʾē for the moon. The name Bawāʾi is perhaps to be explained by the root boʾa, “to enter, set”; Mawāʾi might be an alliteration form of Bawāʾi. It is possible that the names of Bawāʾi and Mawāʾi refer to the moon and not to the sun. , and He called the moon “the light of darkness.”[232] Fol. 120 of H (Halévy, Těʾězāza, p. 39) belongs here. It (the sun) divides (the light) from the darkness all through the year and is also for prosperity, that all things may prosper which blossom and grow upon the earth. God created this on the fourth day. On the fifth day He created the great sea monsters in the depths of the waters; these were the first creatures of flesh that were created by His hands. He also created every living creature that moves in the waters and in the wells and every winged fowl after its kind. And the sun rose above them to make everything that was upon the earth prosper; everything that shoots out of the earth and all the fruit-bearing trees and all flesh. These three kinds He created on the fifth day.[233] Jubilees 2:11-12. On the sixth day He created all the animals of the earth and all cattle and everything that moves on the earth. And after that He created mankind; man and woman created He and gave them dominion over all that is upon the earth and over everything that multiplies and over the beasts and over everything that moves on the earth and over the whole earth. He gave them dominion over all this that He created on the sixth day.[234] Gen. 1: 28 ff. And there were twenty-two kinds.[235] The author of our text does not enumerate the twenty-two kinds, but Jubilees 2:15, 23, does. For other works see ibid., p. 17, n. 23. After finishing all His work on the sixth day, all that is in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and in the abysses, in the light and in the darkness, and in everything, He gave us a great sign, the Sabbath day, for a rest from all work.[236] Jubilees 2:16-17. And all the Angels of Presence,[237] For the Angels of Presence see K. Kohler, “Angelology,” JE, 1, 586. and all the holy angels, these two kinds, He ordered to keep the Sabbath in Heaven and on earth.
And he said to them: “Behold, I shall separate (unto myself) a people from among the peoples[238] I Kings 8:53. and they will keep the Sabbath day.[239] The text goes back to fol. 45ro (Halévy, Těʾězāza, p. 32). And I shall sanctify the people and bless them. As I have sanctified the Sabbath day, even so shall I sanctify them and bless them, and they will be my people and I shall be their God.[240] Jubilees 2:19 I have chosen[241] Read xarayku for ḥorku. the seed of Jacob from among all that I have seen,[242] According to Jubilees 2:20. See also, Isa. 41:8, 44:1. and I have written him down as my first-born son,[243] Exod. 4:22, Ps. 89:27. and have sanctified him unto myself for ever and ever. I shall teach them the Sabbath day[244] The text has “Days and Sabbaths.” that they may keep the Sabbath thereon, free from all work.[245] Jubilees 2:19 ff. For I gave it to them as a sign.[246] Exod. 31:13. The angels of Heaven as well shall keep the Sabbath.[247] Jubilees 2:18 He who accomplishes His command will raise a sweet savor that will be accepted before Him for all time.”[248] Jubilees 2:21: “And He caused His commands to ascend as a sweet savour acceptable before Him al the days” (ibid., p. 17).
15. There are twelve heads of mankind from Adam to Moses,[249] Jubilees 2:20: “There are twenty-two heads of mankind from Adam to Jacob.” On this whole problem see Jubilees, pp. 17-18, n. 23. and twenty-two kinds of work were made from the first day until the seventh day.
This one is blessed and holy, and this one too[250] That is, Jacob. Sabbath and Jacob are intimately related. Some midrashim call attention to the fact that the Bible speaks of the observance of Sabbath by Jacob but not by Abraham (Legends, 5, 313, n. 280) is blessed and holy. And this one serves with that one for sanctification and blessing. The Sabbath was granted to him to be always[251] For baʿalu read bakwěllu. a blessed and a holy day, a testimony, and the first law. He was sanctified and blessed on the Sabbath.[252] Jubilees 2:23-24.
The first day He created Heaven and earth. After nine hundred and twelve weeks the king Gabra Masqal will govern;[253] Gabra Masqal was the second son of Kāleb, the king of Ethiopia; he succeeded his brother Bēta Esrāʾēl probably about 550. He was a devout Christian and endowed the church of Aksum with many estates; Gabra Masqal is also mentioned in Baruch (p. 75). four cycles will be added at his time. Others will reign after him; some of them will be good and perfect, and will walk in justice; others will be bad, forward, unjust, oppressors, extortioners; they will not do justice and will steal the belongings of others, they will oppress them without cause, and they will insult the widow and orphan. Therefore God, the Lord of all, will hide Himself from them.
16. …On the fifth day you shall bring offerings to God. The angels saw that (the Sabbath) was not sanctified on that day, and they stood before God.[254] The whole story is obscure and the text seems to be corrupt, Halévy, Těʾězāza, p. 158, n. 1, wonders whether the angels intended to sanctify the Sabbath on the fifth day but God did not agree to it. God said to His angels: “Why came you to me?” And the angels of God said to their Creator… Each of them went to his encampment and stayed in his tent. They reflected in their hearts, united in their dwellings, and came on the next day to Michael, Gabriel, Rufāʾēl, Rumāʾēl, and Uriel.[255] In other passages Fānuʾēl and Uriel often occur together. The angels of God spoke, stood before God, prayed, were filled with awe, bowed down, and prostrated themselves at His feet. And while prostrating themselves they said: “Holy, Holy, Holy is Thy name for ever.” They worshiped and bowed down from morning until evening, and they were unable to get up and their eyes were heavy. They bowed down and prostrated themselves because of the Sabbath, but God was not willing to show them compassion. And God said to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: “My servants, I spoke not to them,” said God, “I gave it not to them,” said God. The angels of God deliberated again, they slept not, slumbered not, nor ceased to reflect. The angels of God rose and stood on the Sabbath day, one hundred million seven hundred and nine thousand [?] at the right of God, and thousands and myriads at His left. They stood for forty-nine days before God, and God rejected their request. The angels said: “Be it far from Thee, Lord, give us the light of Thy glory, and destroy us not by the light of Thy glory.” They stood, each of them at his place, and continued with praises and songs.
The angels of Heaven and those from above the Heaven, standing respectfully before God, said: “Thou who art in Heaven and earth (be) blessed, blessed, blessed; Thou who dwellest in the Heaven of heavens, Thou art the eternal King, our Creator, our Father and our Lord. We implore [Thee], listen to us, and look at us in Thy grace and mercy.”[256] The angels praising God is a well-known theme in Jewish writings.
And in the second heaven they said:[257] Of the five or seven heavens see Test. Levi 2:7–3:8, I Enoch; Asc. Is.; III Baruch. See also II Enoch, pp. xxx-xlvi. “Hallelujah, Thy name be praised, O God. Deliver us by the splendor of Thy praise. May God be blessed on the day the great Satan[258] The Ethiopic text has Diyābolos. will be opposed to us.” And they stood among themselves, each one in his encampment according to his people, his rank, his songs,[259] For babbazamanomu read babbazēmomu. his praise, and his action of grace.
The angels of the third heaven said: “Hallelujah, Thy name is glorified, Běndāʾēl, Běrnāʾēl, and Běršebāḥēl.”[260] Běršebāḥēl occurs also in a [Beta Israel] prayer (Aescoli, p. 143). Běrnāʾēl is known as an angel of evil (see above, n. 29) and should not be used as the name of God. And God rejoiced at the invocation of His name. He is our Father, the King of all. He reigns over His creatures. Then God gave the angels their food. The angels ate their manna,[261] For manna called “angels’ food” see Wisdom of Solomon 16:20; Adam and Eve 4:2. measured and put it in with ʾafāʾif,[262] This seems to be the internal plural of the Hebrew ʾefa. It reflects the story of the mannah as related in Exod. 16:11-16. and its dimension was three.
Then the angels of God rejoiced, all with one voice, and all of them were gladdened by His praise. While God gave them bread they ate and drank,[263] There are many examples in Jewish literature of angels eating and drinking (Legends, 3, 236) and, great and small, they praised with joy and delight God who had created them. They rejoiced, praising God on the New Moon and on the Sabbath, and served God by praising His name. They stood, each of them at his place, and with their songs they praised Him, together with their hosts, on the New Moon when the doors of the house of God are open. For they are not closed[264] For ʾiyětʿābaw read ʾiyětʿaṣ(ṣ)aw. on the New Moon nor on the Sabbath.[265] Some obscure words follow.
They shall offer sacrifices to God according to the law of the children of Levi: three bullocks, seven lambs, and two pure rams;[266] Numbers 28:11 speaks of two young bullocks, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old. and they shall bring them to Jerusalem on the beginning of the New Moon until [?] and they shall observe it daily because of the sins of their souls.[267] Here a corrupt passage of several lines follows.
God created the Sabbath[268] The Sabbath must not be understood as a cessation from the work of creation but as creation in itself. Everything was created in six days except rest, which was created on the Sabbath (Legends, 5, 111). and gave it to the children of man to forgive their faults, mischiefs, and sins; if you bring a sacrifice of a year-old sheep and of a year-old goat[269] Num. 28:9-10 speaks, however, of two male lambs a year old. (on that day) the sins will not be counted against you.
The seventh pure Sabbath is the Festival of the Harvest.[270] The name is the same as in Exod. 23:16. In Jubilees 6:17, 21, it is called the “Feast of the Weeks.” Beginning on the day after the Sabbath you will count (seven) weeks, and on the fiftieth day[271] Lev. 23:11, 16. The Karaites and the Samaritans count the fifty days from the Sunday of the Passover; the Rabbanites from the second day of the Passover; see also, Aescoli, pp. 65-66. you shall neither strive nor travel nor slander. I am God, your Lord. After having heard these words… all those who commit sins shall be destroyed.
And now, O angels of Heaven, praise the man who observed my Sabbath. I shall reward him from my table.[272] Cf. the Prayers of the Falashas, p. 140: ‘’The just will sit at the heavenly table”; cf. also, “the table of God” in Mal. 1:7, 12; “the table of the Lord” in I Cor. 10:21; Test. Levi 8:16; “to eat of His table” in Test. Jud. 21: 5. See also, Jubilees 31:16; Sir. 45:21. Because of the Sabbath the vine will give ten measures more for trading.[273] The superior character of the seventh day is marked by the circumstance that everything connected with it is twofold, e.g., the double portion of manna (Exod. 16: 22), the two lambs (Num. 28:9), the double menace (Exod. 31:14), etc. (E. G. Hirsch, “Sabbath,” JE, 10, 589)
17. God said to His Sabbath: “Go, descend to the earth.” And the Sabbath descended from the highest Heaven to the earth in the midst of Jerusalem. Abel, Enoch, and Melchizedek, the great priest, received her. And all the angels of God crowned her, and then they dispersed in the midst of Heaven after having departed from her throne.
Those who celebrate the Sabbath and honor her and observe her will have their sins remitted.[274] See below, p. 37. Those who give alms, remain silent, and pray with a confident heart on the Sabbath of God shall be delivered forever and shall rejoice.
Sabbath means “I am God, the Lord,” says God.[275] See above, p. 19 and n. 100. Remember me with good words. Those who pray with a right heart, and ask for grace on the Sabbath, shall have their sins remitted, as will those who are silent and give aims and pray at the Feasts of the Tabernacles and of the Harvest.
Thou shalt celebrate the Feast of Passover every year in its time,[276] Exod. 12:6-9, and passim; Jubilees 49. and the Festival of the New Moon. Thou shalt give tithe[277] An obscure word ʾasxěrt precedes. of all Thy corn, and thou shalt bring the tithe of the products of thy field to the priest, before God, and he will pardon the sins of men. [Thou shalt give] the first fruit of thy corn, the first-born of thine oxen and sheep, and of whatsoever thy hands have acquired.[278] Lev. 27: 30-33; Num. 18:21-26; Deut. 14: 22-29; see also, O. Eissfeldt, Erstlinge und Zehnten im Alten Testament (1917).
If you fulfill all my commandments and ordinances I shall look upon you, says God.[279] Some words follow, the meaning of which could be, “Omit not to bring your first fruit.” If you observe my holidays, celebrate my Sabbaths, and keep my law, I shall be with you. After making you sick and hungry I shall make you[280] The text has here and on the next line “him” instead of “you.” great, and you shall participate in my glory if you observe my commandments. If you observe not the commandments of God and (follow) the ancient temptation not to live in justice,[281] The passage is obscure. I, God, your Lord, shall expel you as I expelled you from your country. And I shall send hunger, plague, sterility, and scab[282] Cf. similar expressions in Ezek. 5:17; 14:13. This passage reflects the curses for the disobedience of the law in Lev. 33:14 ff.; Deut. 28:15 ff. so that (you will eat)[283] The text is corrupt. the flesh of your sons and daughters. If there are people who know me not I shall punish them by my hands, and my sword will burn above those who know me not. This is my name forever and my fame for generations.
God said to Moses: “I gave thee the Sabbath for[284] The text has “with.” rest and for the invocation of my name. At the third Sabbath and[285] This should probably be “the third Sabbath of the fifth moon” (see Introduction, p. xxxi and n. 42). the fifth New Moon… I am and I shall be. My name is forever.” The Sabbath (is given) to man to believe in God. He who will pray, be submissive, praise, prostrate himself, purify his soul, and pray with a constant heart will be deprived of nothing. They who observe the laws and the Sabbath of God and celebrate the Sabbath of God shall live.
18. These are the commandments of the Sabbath for those who observe it. When God questions the inhabitants of the earth upon the day of His arrival,[286] One wonders whether the text refers to the arrival of the Messiah or of Christ. the Sabbath will stand before God on behalf of those who fear Him. As for those of the children of Adam who fear not God, a misfortune [?] will befall them at the last day.
Sabbath said to God: “Thy name is great forever. Thy name is gracious.” God said to the Sabbath: “I am gracious for those who belong to thee.” The Sabbath will rise on the day on which God questions those who fear Him and those who fear Him not. Then the Sabbath will intercede for those who belong to her and will say to her Creator: “These are my people; these are my inheritance; these are they who walk in my path, who love me, who believe in me, who neglect Thee not, who find delight in Thee. Now they will enjoy eternal rest. Amen. But they who observe not Thy Sabbath, who walk not in Thy law, who neglect Thy commandments, who are not obedient to Thy covenant,[287] The text repeats “who neglects Thy commandments.” who refuse Thy service, and who transgress Thy law will be cursed and condemned to Sheol forever. Be submissive to the law of God before your soul leaves you, and remember two calamities: first a bitter death, second a punishment without end. Remember this forever and forget it not.”
19. In the first week Adam was created and the woman was created, too.[288] Jubilees 3:8 ff. Several passages of our text are corrected according to the text of Jubilees. For all these details see Jubilees, p. 22, nn. 8-14. In the [second] week God showed her unto him. Therefore the commandment was to regard their defilement as lasting for a male seven days and for a female twice seven days.[289] Lev. 12:2-5. After Adam had completed forty days in the land wherein he had been created, We brought him into the Garden of Edom to till and keep it, but his wife we brought in on the eightieth day, and then she entered into the Garden of Edom. And for this reason the commandment is written on the heavenly tables[290] On the heavenly tables see I Enoch, pp. 91-92, note to 57:3; Jubilees, p. 24, note to 3:10. in regard to her who gives birth: “If she bear[291] For těwarrěd read těwallěd. a male she shall remain in uncleanness seven days according to the first week, and thirty-three days shall she remain in the blood of her purification; she shall not touch a hallowed thing, not enter into the sanctuary, until she accomplishes the number of days (prescribed) for a male child.[292] At present, too, the [Beta Israel] woman is unclean for forty days after giving birth but the division is eight and thirty-two (see Introduction, p. xv). But in the case of a female child she shall remain in her uncleanness two weeks of days, according to the first two weeks [and sixty-six days] in the blood of her purification, so that there will be in all eighty days (of uncleanness).”[293] The idea that the law of Lev. 12: 2-5 is based on the belief that Adam was created at the close of the first week and Eve at the close of the second weck reappears in various midrashic works; see Jubilees, pp. 22-24, and note to 8-14. On the defilement of women for forty and eighty days according to Abyssinian belief, see Ludolf, Historia Aethiopica, pp. 3, 6, 36; Rüppel, Reise in Abessinien, 2, 51; E. Littmann, “Abyssinia,” Enc. Rel. Ethics, 1, 58; Introduction, pp. xiv, xv. When she completed the (eighty) days we brought her into the Garden of Edom, for it is holy.
And on the new moon of the fourth month we appeared unto Abraham[294] Gen. 18:1, Jubilees 16:1 ff. at the oak[295] For darsā read děrs. of Mamre,[296] For “Mamre” the text has “Marmarim.” and we talked with him and we announced to him that Isaac[297] Gen. 18:10; Jubilees 16:1 has “son.” would be borne by Sarah, (his) wife. And Sarah laughed, for she had heard that we had spoken these words to Abraham. We admonished her and she became afraid, and denied that she had laughed at these words. And we told her[298] For zanagarnāhā read wanagarnāhā. the name of her son, as his name Isaac was ordained and written in the heavenly tables, and (that) when we returned to her at the time appointed she would have borne a son.
And in this month God executed His judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah and Zeboim[299] Gen. 14:2, 8. The text has Labayěm. and the regions of the Jordan, and he burned them with fire.[300] Gen. 19:24-25.
And in this month Abraham moved from Hebron and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur.[301] Gen. 20:1; Jubilees 16:10, The text has Sēyr instead of Shur. In the middle of the seventh[302] Jubilees 3:12 has “in the middle of the sixth month.” month God visited Sarah, and He did unto her as He had spoken.[303] Gen. 21:1-4. She conceived and bore a son in the third month. And in the middle of the month[304] The text has “in the middle of the seventh month,” but “seventh” seems to be superfluous since according to the preceding line Isaac was born in the third month. Jubilees 16:12 has “in the middle of the sixth month.” at the time of which God had spoken, on the festival of the first fruits of the harvest, Isaac was born.[305] According to agadic versions Isaac was born on the first or on the fifteenth of Nisan (Beer, Leben Abrahams, p. 46). Abraham died in the seventh [month];[306] According to Jewish legends Abraham died in the tenth month; according to the Talmud he died in the first or in the seventh month (Beer, Leben Abrahams, pp. 84, 200, n. 921a). he had been born on the eighth day.[307] Some legends say that Abraham was born during the first month, others that he was born during the seventh month (Beer, Leben Abrahams, pp. 1, 100, n. 6). God said to Abraham: “I love thee and thy seed forever.”
From the Falasha Anthology (1951). The term Falasha, meaning “landless” or “wanderers,” was commonly used by the Christians of Ethiopia to refer to the Betä Ǝsraʾel, and at the time it was the standard term for the community used in scholarship. Due to its derogatory origin, the Betä Ǝsraʾel community considers it an ethnic slur. It has been retained here but replaced below in Leslau’s introduction and notes with “[Beta Israel].”
Wisdom is the one “that sitteth by” God on His throne (Wisdom of Solomon 9:4). It was with Him when He made the world (ibid., 9: 9). See also, I Enoch 84: 3; II Enoch 30: 8; Prov. 8.
According to Jewish tradition the angels were created either on the first or on the fifth day (Legends, 1, 16; 5, 20, n. 61). For the creation of the angels on the first day, see also, Bezold, Schatzhöhle, p. i.
On the hour when Adam was created, see Aptowitzer, Agadoth, pp. 112, 121. According to some Arabic traditions Adam was created between noon and evening; according to others, in the third hour of the sixth clay (R. Gottheil, “Adam,” JE, 1, 178; Weil, Biblical Legends, p. 19).
This corresponds to the Arabic concept that God alone created Adam (Ṭabari, Chronique, 1, 72), and not to the Jewish idea which interprets Gen. 1:26, “Let us make man…,” as addressed to helpers.
This name does not seem to occur in the other accounts of the creation of Adam. It may be a misread form of an Arabic source. There is a form, (ḏū) ʾadim, used by Ṭabari, Annales, p. 87, when speaking of Adam: xuliqa min ʾadim(in), “he was created from earth,” and corresponding to Hebrew ʾaḏamah. An expression ḏū ʾadim, read ḏūʾadīm and corrupted into dudālēm, would not be impossible. According to Jewish tradition the dust might have been collected from all the earth or from a particular place (Aptowitzer, Agadoth, p. 121).
The earth refused to give dust because it was destined to become cursed through man (Legends, I, 54). The same idea is expressed in Arabic legends (Ṭabari, Chronique, I, 72 ff.).
Běrnāʾēl is explained by Halévy, Těʾězāza, iv, n. i, as a contraction of běrhān ʾēl, “the light of El” (cf. Lucifer). The form běrnā– would then reflect an Amharic form. The form Běrhānāʾēl also exists (Aescoli, p. 130); Aescoli, p. 126, n. 17, identifies the name with Ḥaza’el of the Book of Enoch. In our text Běrnāʾēl has the same role as Běryāl, Běrnāʾēl in the Book of the Angels (see below, p. 53), and it is possible that Běryāl is remodeled into Běrnāʾēl after the numerous names of angels and devils ending in ʾēl, “God.”
For the creation of Adam in Jewish legends, see Legends, 1, 52 5.; V. Aptowitzer, “La Création de l’homme d’après les anciens interprètes,” REJ, 75 (1922), 1-15; Agadoth. pp. 112-128. According to some Jewish sources the band of the archangel Michael advised God not to create Adam and was consumed by fire except for its chief Michael. The same thing happened to the band of Gabriel. But the band of Labbiel, taught by the horrible fate of its predecessors, yielded to God’s wishes, and Labbiel had his name changed to Raphael (Legends, 1, 53-54). The source of the [Beta Israel] legend however is the Arabic legend according to which Gabriel went to fetch dust from the earth from the place where the present Kaʿaba is situated. The earth refused to give its dust, fearing that it might be cursed because of man. Gabriel withdrew and the same thing happened to Michael, but lzraʾel, the Angel of Death, was not afraid of the earth and brought the dust (Ṭabari, Chronique, I, 72 ff., and others).
It is obscure why God threw Běrnāʾēl down to earth. According to Jewish and Moslem legends Satan was jealous of the first man and did not want to show reverence and pay homage to him (Adam and Eve, Secs. 13 ff.; Legends, 1, 62). According to II Enoch 29: 4—5, the fall of Satan took place because he was jealous of God.
According to Jewish and Moslem legends, Adam remained formless for eighty days. Thereupon God gave him a human form but without a soul. He remained in this condition for 120 years. It was only then that God blew into him the spirit of life (Aptowitzer, Agadoth, p. 115; Grünbaum, Neue Beitrüge, p. 12).
Paradise was such that it was not necessary for Adam to till the soil (Legends, 1, 71; 5, 31-32; A. Jellinek, “Seḏergan ʿeḏen,” Beṯ Hammiḏraš [1853], 2. 52—53).
5!. This idea is fully developed in Test. of the Twelve Patriarchs in which Beliar and the spirits of Beliar were given power over the sinner. See also, Book of the Angels, p. 53.
See also below, p. 35. The allusion in these passages is probably to the mana which was thought to have been ground by the angels. Mana was also called “bread of the angels”; it will be set before them in the future world. (Legends, 3, 33, and especially 6, 17, in various notes.)
This probably has a connection with the legend that the earth was also guilty of various misdemeanors and that it too had to suffer a tenfold punishment. One of them was that it had to wait to be watered by the rains from above.
Also in Jubilees 3:32. Charles, ibid., p. 29, n. 32, questions whether ʾĒldā is not a corruption of the Hebrew moleḏah, so that “land of ʾĒldā” would mean “land of nativity.” Beer, Buch der Jubiläen, p. 15, speaks of Eldad but without further explanation.
Also Jubilees 4:10. The names of the sons are given by Philo, Biblical Antiquities (trans. M. R. James, 1917). p. 76. This notion is unknown in the Agada.
”It is the Sabbath of the Lord” (Lev. 23:3). Philo, “A Treatise of the Cherubim,” Sec. 26, The Works of Philo Judaeus (trans. C. D. Yonge [London, 1854]), I, 197, also says, “And on this account, too, Moses calls the Sabbath, which name being interpreted means ‘rest,’ the Sabbath of God.” See also, Troje, Sanbat, pp. 347 ff.
For the Festival of the New Moon, see Jubilees 6:23-28; Amos 8:5; and “New Moon,” JE, 9, 243-244. According to the [Beta Israel] themselves, “Moïse ordonne de faire le qʷērbān ou sacrifice de froment avec l’agneau d‘un an, et nos prêtres font ces deux sacrifices à chaque nouvelle lune et à chaque grande fête. L’adjonction du vin est ordonnée par Moïse; si nous en manquons, nous employons la bière” (Luzzatto, Mémoire, p. 54).
The seventh Sabbath is greatly honored by the [Beta Israel] (Luzzatto, Mémoire, pp. 48-49; Aescoli, pp. 30-31). The Samaritans, too, honor the seventh Sabbath (H. Petermann, De Legibus Samaritanorum).
That the sinners leave Hell on the Sabbath and are not punished on that day is well known in Jewish writings (M. Caster, “Orḥot ḥayyim,” JRAS [1867], p. 604: “on the eve of the Sabbath, the sinners are led to two mountains of snow where they are left until the end of the Sabbath, when they are taken back and returned to their former places”); see also, A. Jellinek, Beṯ Hammiḏraš (1853), I, 74, 148; Legends, 4, 201; 5, 112. For more rabbinical material see Strack-Billerbeck, Kommentar, 4, 1076, 1082-1083; L. Lévy, “Le Repos sabbatique des âmes damnés,” REJ, 25, 1-15. Troje, Sanbat, p. 336, sees here a gnostic influence. The same belief is found in some Christian sources which state that the souls rest on Sunday, and in Moslem eschatology, which says that the souls rest on Friday (Asin, Islam, pp. 223 ff.; see also, Arturo Graf, Mitti, leggende e superstizioni del Medio Evo [1892], l, 241 ff.).
This may also reflect the Christian idea that the souls of the damned rest on Sunday. We read, however, in J. A. Eisenmenger, The Traditions of the Jews (1734), 2, 281: “It is recommended that one leave a table covered with provisions and decent furniture, to stand, as in readiness for company, till Sunday morning.”
Mediation and intercession are known themes in all faiths: see A. J. Maclean, “Intercession,” Enc. Rel. Ethics, 7, 382—385. For the Old Testament see instances such as Job 5:1; 33:23; Zech. 1:12, etc. On mediation in the apocryphal writings see Volz, Eschatologie, index under “Fürbitte,” and W. O. E. Oesterley, Jewish Doctrines of Mediation (1910). The Sabbath as mediator seems to be a specific [Beta Israel] element; cf. “Un Falacha disait à M. d’Abbadie: ‘Marie est la médiatrice des chrétiens, notre médiateur est le Samedi'” (Lumtto. Mémoire, p. 47). For Ugaritic see now J. Obermann, “How Daniel Was Blessed with a Son,” JAOS, Offprint Series, No. 20 (1946), pp. 13, 28 f.
Allusions to the throne of God are found in the Old Testament (Ps. 9:5, etc.) and in the apocryphal literature (Voiz. Eschatologie, p. 276), but nowhere are twelve thrones mentioned. Halévy, Těʾězāza, p. 141, n. 1, suggests that this number corresponds to the twelve tribes of Israel. However. twelve thrones of the apostles occur in the New Testament (Luke 22:30) and are also mentioned in the Book of Bartholomew (p. 185).
A very interesting passage and difficult to interpret. Halévy, Těʾězāza, p. 141, n. 2, explains it the following way: “Peut-être: Sanbat signifie: ‘Je suis Dieu’ (c’est-à-dire: En acceptant le Sabbat, vous m’acceptez comme votre Dieu); ce n’est pas le jour qui dit: ‘Je suis Dieu,’ c’est Dieu qui dit cela de lui-même. Cette remarque semble vouloir empêcher Ia déification réelle de Sanbat.” See also, Abba Elijah, p. 45.
Halévy, Těʾězāza, p. 142, translates, “L’homme mortel et formé de poussière a été vaincu,” and adds, “Il est impossible de méconnaître le caractère spiritualiste et décidemment antichrétien de cette profession de foi mise dans la bouche des anges.”
On the [Beta Israel] rules concerning the Sabbath see Aescoli, pp. 30-39; for the rules observed by the Zadokite sect see Ginzberg, Jüdische Sekte, pp. 152 ff.
This is not recommended by Jewish law but is practiced by the Karaites and Samaritans (Beer, Buch der Jubiläen, pp. 53-54); for the [Beta Israel] see Luzzatto, Mémoire, p. 46. See also, F. Bohn, Der Sabbat im Alten Testament (1903), pp. 77-80, Jubilees, p. 259, n. 8.
”Dès que l’aurore de samedi a paru on ne parle qu’à demi voix” (Luzzatto, Mémoire, p. 45). Speaking loud, making noise, and playing music are prohibited on the Sabbath; for the passages in talmudic literature see E. G. Hirsch, “Sabbath,” JE, 10, 593.
Jubilees 50:8; Zadokite Work 13:11; it is it is also forbidden by the Karaite sect (J. M. Jost, Geschichte des Judentums, 2, 304). For the [Beta Israel] see Luzzatto, Mémoire, p. 45.
According to H. See also, Jubilees 50:12; Legends, 4, 374; Strack-Billerbeck, Kommentar, 4, 89-91, 95. 98. For the [Beta Israel] see also, J. Faitlowitch, Quer durch Abessinien, p. 86. Fasting on the Sabbath is allowed only on the Day of Atonement.
See also below, p. 32. “It may be noted that nowhere in the old rabbinical literature is there to be found a trace of the mystical concept of the Sabbath occurring in Philo, “A Treatise on the Life of Moses,” Bk. 3, Sec. 36, The Works of Philo Judaeus (trans. C. D. Yonge [London, 1854]), 3, 130 [not Sec. 33 as in Legends, 5, 111], according to which this most distinguished day dates not from the creation of the world but from the time when heaven and all the perceptible universe were as yet uncreated. It is only in Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer (1709), sec. 3, that the Sabbath is counted among the things which existed in the thought of God prior to the creation of the world” (Legends, 5, 111).
According to the Talmud the law of the Sabbath is equal to all the other laws and commandments of the Torah. For the several passages, see Strack-Billerbeck, Kommentar, 1, 905; J. L. Baruch, Sefer haššabbaṯ, pp. 242-246.
H has Rāguʾēl. Fanuʾēl is mentioned in I Enoch 40:9 as one “who is set over the repentance unto hope of those who inherit eternal life.“ In I Enoch 54:6 Fānuʾēl together with Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael casts the hosts of Azazel into the burning furnace; see also, I Enoch 71: 8, 9, 13. The name occurs also in I Chron. 4:4; 8:25. A holy day of the archangel Fānu’ēl is celebrated by the Ethiopians on the 3rd of Tāxsās.
The same passage occurs in the Prayers of the Falashas. All the names of God are variants of ʾĒl, ʾĒlohē. Instead of Lohē, H has ʾĒlwāhē. H has also (la) yolsādēy to be connected with the Old Testament ʾel šadday.
The birth of Abraham “had been read in the stars by Nimrod… and it was manifest to him that a man would be born in his days who would rise against him and triumphantly give the lie to his religion” (Legends, 1, 186; Beer, Leben Abrahams, p. 2).
Abraham was hidden in the cave in order that he might escape being killed by Nimrod who, like Pharaoh in the story of Moses, ordered all the new-born boys to be killed (Legends, 1, 187 ff.). For other accounts of Abraham’s youth see Legends, 5, 209, n. 13; Beer, Leben Abrahams, pp. 2-31. According to some of the legends Abraham remained in the cave three, ten, or thirteen years (Beer, Leben Abrahams, p. 3), or seven days (Legends, 1, 189). In our text the seven years perhaps are actually seven days.
Legends, 1, 189, 212-213; 5, 110, n. 16; Beer, Leben Abrahams, p. 3. According to another opinion he attained the true knowledge of God when he was forty-eight years old (K. Kohler, “Abraham,” JE, 1, 85).
This is more explicitly explained in Legends, 1, 214-215: “Terah said: ‘Is there spirit, soul, or power in these gods to do all thou hast told me? Are they not wood or stone? And have I not myself made them?'”
This corrupt account is to be traced back to an Arabic source as related in Ṭabari, Chronique, 1, 148-150, and in al-Kisāʾi, Vita propetarum, 1, 140-141. It is summed up in Weil, Biblical Legends, pp. 76-77, as follows: “Nimrod resolved to build a lofty tower, wherewith, if possible, to scale the heavens. and to search therein for the God of Abraham. The tower rose to a height of five thousand cubits; but as heaven was still far off, and the workmen were unable to proceed with the building, Nimrod caught two eagles and kept them upon the tower several days, and when they were ravenous with hunger, he fastened to their feet a light, closed palanquin, with one window above and another below, and seated himself in it with one of his huntsmen. The latter took a long spear, to which a bit of flesh was attached, and thrust it through the upper window, so that the famished eagles flew instantly upward bearing the palanquin aloft. When they had flown toward heaven for a whole day Nimrod heard a voice which cried to him: ‘Godless man, whither goest thou?’ Nimrod seized his huntsman’s bow, and discharged an arrow, which forthwith fell back through the window stained with blood, and this reprobate man believed that he had wounded the God of Abraham.”
Beer, Leben Abrahams, p. 14; Legends, 1, 216. For references in Jewish writings alluding to Abraham’s having been cast into the fiery furnace see Jubilees, note p. 91: “The idea that Abraham was cast into a fiery furnace arose from a literal interpretation of Gen. 15:7: ‘I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees,’ where Ur was taken to mean ‘fire.'” The notion that the wood for the fire was carried by various animals—camels, mules, and donkeys—is mentioned in the Arabic legends (D. Sidersky, Les origins des legends musulmanes dans les Coran, p. 32).
According to some of the legends it was Gabriel who saved Abraham, according to others it was Michael; still others believe that God himself saved Abraham (Legends, 5, 212, n. 33; Beer, Leben Abrahams, p. 16).
The powder was mixed with their drinking water (Koran 2:87). According to Jewish legends Moses threw the powder upon the waters and said, “All that have committed idolatry shall be yours” But the waters were not to be appeased by having the sinners cast into them, and the ocean would not retreat to its bed until Moses made the children of Israel drink of it (Legends, 3, 129-130).
See below, p. 36. The view that the Sabbath was “given” by God “to Israel” is common in rabbinical literature; cf. Tos. Běraḵot, 3, 7; B. Šabbaṯ, 10b. That the Sabbath was given to Israel “to eat the fruits of the earth” is based upon Isa. 58:13.
The passage is obscure. The number “forty-nine” occurs in connection with Moses who was in charge of the forty-nine gates of wisdom (Legends; 3, 141); Enoch had a crown of forty-nine jewels (ibid., 1, 139); the Torah is interpreted in forty-nine ways (ibid., 2, 325).
Deut. 15:1 EL; see also, “Sabbatical Year and Jubilee.” JE, 10, 605-608. Several words of this sentence are obscure. Concerning the sabbatical year the [Beta Israel] say, “Nous n’observons pas le repos de la septième année parce que nous n’avons pas de patrimoine” (d’Abbadie, “Réponses des Falasha,” Univers Israélite, 6 [1851], 482-483).
Corrupt—perhaps in lieu of “the tenth day of the first month,” for which see Exod. 12:2-3. Note that the tenth of each month is considered a festival by the [Beta Israel] (Luzzatto, Mémoire, p. 66, and Introduction, p. xxx).
He is probably identical with Remiel and Ramiel of I Enoch 20:8; II Baruch 55:3; and other apocryphal writings. Box identifies that figure with Jeremiel, Hebrew Yěraḥměʾel (1V Ezra 4:33)
The fight of Michael against Běrnāʾēl is also mentioned in the beginning of our text (see p. 12). The punishment of the fallen angels is developed. with many details, in l Enoch. An allusion to the fight of the good angels against the fallen angels is to be found in I Enoch 100:4. In I Enoch 54:6 the angels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Fānuʾēl cast the hosts of Azazel into the fiery furnace.
These names are taken from I Enoch 78:1-2 where the names are Oryārês and Tomās for the sun; Asonyā, Eblā, Běnāsē, and Erāʾē for the moon. The name Bawāʾi is perhaps to be explained by the root boʾa, “to enter, set”; Mawāʾi might be an alliteration form of Bawāʾi. It is possible that the names of Bawāʾi and Mawāʾi refer to the moon and not to the sun.
That is, Jacob. Sabbath and Jacob are intimately related. Some midrashim call attention to the fact that the Bible speaks of the observance of Sabbath by Jacob but not by Abraham (Legends, 5, 313, n. 280)
Gabra Masqal was the second son of Kāleb, the king of Ethiopia; he succeeded his brother Bēta Esrāʾēl probably about 550. He was a devout Christian and endowed the church of Aksum with many estates; Gabra Masqal is also mentioned in Baruch (p. 75).
The whole story is obscure and the text seems to be corrupt, Halévy, Těʾězāza, p. 158, n. 1, wonders whether the angels intended to sanctify the Sabbath on the fifth day but God did not agree to it.
Běršebāḥēl occurs also in a [Beta Israel] prayer (Aescoli, p. 143). Běrnāʾēl is known as an angel of evil (see above, n. 29) and should not be used as the name of God.
The Sabbath must not be understood as a cessation from the work of creation but as creation in itself. Everything was created in six days except rest, which was created on the Sabbath (Legends, 5, 111).
Lev. 23:11, 16. The Karaites and the Samaritans count the fifty days from the Sunday of the Passover; the Rabbanites from the second day of the Passover; see also, Aescoli, pp. 65-66.
Cf. the Prayers of the Falashas, p. 140: ‘’The just will sit at the heavenly table”; cf. also, “the table of God” in Mal. 1:7, 12; “the table of the Lord” in I Cor. 10:21; Test. Levi 8:16; “to eat of His table” in Test. Jud. 21: 5. See also, Jubilees 31:16; Sir. 45:21.
The superior character of the seventh day is marked by the circumstance that everything connected with it is twofold, e.g., the double portion of manna (Exod. 16: 22), the two lambs (Num. 28:9), the double menace (Exod. 31:14), etc. (E. G. Hirsch, “Sabbath,” JE, 10, 589)
At present, too, the [Beta Israel] woman is unclean for forty days after giving birth but the division is eight and thirty-two (see Introduction, p. xv).
The idea that the law of Lev. 12: 2-5 is based on the belief that Adam was created at the close of the first week and Eve at the close of the second weck reappears in various midrashic works; see Jubilees, pp. 22-24, and note to 8-14. On the defilement of women for forty and eighty days according to Abyssinian belief, see Ludolf, Historia Aethiopica, pp. 3, 6, 36; Rüppel, Reise in Abessinien, 2, 51; E. Littmann, “Abyssinia,” Enc. Rel. Ethics, 1, 58; Introduction, pp. xiv, xv.
The text has “in the middle of the seventh month,” but “seventh” seems to be superfluous since according to the preceding line Isaac was born in the third month. Jubilees 16:12 has “in the middle of the sixth month.”
According to Jewish legends Abraham died in the tenth month; according to the Talmud he died in the first or in the seventh month (Beer, Leben Abrahams, pp. 84, 200, n. 921a).
Some legends say that Abraham was born during the first month, others that he was born during the seventh month (Beer, Leben Abrahams, pp. 1, 100, n. 6).
“💬 Təʾəzazä Sänbät, a work from the Greater Betä Ǝsraʾel Canon, translated and cantillated in Masoretic Hebrew” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
Wolf Leslau (וולף לסלאו; born November 14, 1906 in Krzepice, Vistula Land, Poland; died November 18, 2006 in Fullerton, California) was a scholar of Semitic languages and one of the foremost authorities on Semitic languages of Ethiopia.
Abba Tsabrah (also, Abba Sabra, fl. ca. 1450) was an Ethiopian Orthodox monk and the teacher of the children of Emperor Zara Yaqob of Ethiopia who became a prominent and influential Jewish convert. Abba Tsabrah tried to convert the Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews) to Christianity, but was instead converted by them to Judaism. He then later converted the son of king Zara Yaqob, Saga-Amlak, who adopted the religious name Abba Saga. Later Abba Tsabrah and Abba Saga established a separate kingdom in modern day Ethiopia in which Jews were not persecuted. Tsabrah is also known for introducing monasticism to the Beta Israel, and the tradition of Jewish monks continued down the centuries until the Great Famine of the 1890s decimated their monasteries in Lay Armachiho.
From a family of musicians, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer believes that creative art is one of the most powerful ways to get in touch with the divine. He composes music and poetry in Hebrew and English. (He also translates and authors his own original works.) Isaac runs a Jewish music transcription service, which will transcribe and set any Jewish music in any language, recorded or written. Contact his service on Facebook or via his music blog.
From a family of musicians, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer believes that creative art is one of the most powerful ways to get in touch with the divine. He composes music and poetry in Hebrew and English. (He also authors his own original works and transcribes Hebrew and Aramaic text, adding niqqud and t'amim as needed.) Isaac runs a Jewish music transcription service, which will transcribe and set any Jewish music in any language, recorded or written. Contact his service on Facebook or via his music blog.
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