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God Destroyed Two Angel Armies to Create One Human

When God announced He would create a human, two companies of angels said no. He destroyed both. The third company agreed.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The First Vote Against Creation
  2. The Second Vote and the Second Destruction
  3. The Third Company's Answer
  4. The Book That Came After

The First Vote Against Creation

God approached the company of the archangel Michael and said: let us make man in our image. The angels answered with a verse from Psalms: what is man that you should remember him, a human being that you should be mindful of him? Their argument was essentially: this is a bad idea. Human beings will be a source of grief. The world is functioning. Why introduce something that will fail?

God destroyed them.

Not in anger, the tradition is careful to say, or not in anger only. The destruction was the answer to the question. You asked what man is, why he merits creation. The act of destroying you in order to create him is the answer. His worth exceeds the cost of your objection.

The Second Vote and the Second Destruction

God approached the company of the archangel Gabriel and posed the question again. Gabriel's company gave the same answer Michael's company had given. They quoted the same verse. They made the same argument. God destroyed them too.

The Chronicle of Jerahmeel, the 14th-century Hebrew anthology that preserves this account, does not explain why God let the second company make the same mistake before responding the same way. The repetition seems to be its own kind of teaching. The angels who objected were accurate about human nature. Human beings would be a source of grief, would fall short of what God had envisioned, would require extraordinary interventions to keep the project from collapsing entirely. The angels' objection was not based on ignorance. It was based on accurate prediction. God destroyed them anyway, twice, and then asked a third time.

The Third Company's Answer

The third company, the company whose archangel is not named in the surviving tradition, gave a different answer. Whatever you wish to do, they said, do it. God created Adam. The creation of a single human being had cost the lives of two entire angelic armies, each of them arguing from accurate premises, each of them destroyed for arguing at all.

Bereshit Rabbah, the great Palestinian midrash on Genesis, preserved a parallel account in which the ministering angels were split into factions when God announced the plan, some in favor of creating Adam, some opposed. The angels of lovingkindness said: create him, he will do acts of kindness. The angels of truth said: do not create him, he is all falsehood. The angels of righteousness said: create him, he will do righteous deeds. The angels of peace said: do not create him, he is all strife. God did not hold a vote. He threw truth into the earth, where it became the condition under which humans lived, and created Adam while the argument was still ongoing.

The Book That Came After

After the expulsion from Eden, Adam wept. His lament was not only for the lost Garden but for what he had brought into the world, the grief the angels had predicted, the falsehood the angels of truth had accurately foreseen. He poured out his complaint to God: you made the world in my honor and now I am exiled from the only part of it that was made for me to inhabit. God responded by sending the angel Raziel with a book.

The Book of Raziel contained the knowledge of all future generations, every wise man, every sage, every moment of illumination that Adam's descendants would produce across all of human history. God wanted Adam to see what the destroyed angel armies had not been allowed to see: what human beings, with all their falsehood and strife, would eventually do with the life that had cost two angelic companies their existence. The book was not consolation. It was context. The cost had been worth it. Adam held the book and read forward through his descendants.

AdamAngelsCreationBook Of RazielFirst Man
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From the tradition

Sources

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The texts this telling draws on, in full. Open a card to read inline, or expand it for a wider, quieter read.

Chronicles of Jerahmeel VIChronicles of Jerahmeel (Gaster, 1899)

God wanted to create a human being. The angels said no. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle compiled by Jerahmeel ben Solomon, God first approached the company of Michael and said, "Let us make man in our image." The angels replied, "What is man that You should remember him?" God stretched out His little finger and destroyed every angel in the company. Only Michael survived.

He then turned to Gabriel's company with the same request. Same answer. Same result. An entire angelic host, obliterated.

The third company, led by an angel named Boel, watched what had happened to the others. Boel told his companions, "If we repeat what they said, He will destroy us too. Better to comply." They agreed. God rewarded Boel by renaming him Raphael, "because through your counsel you saved your entire host."

God then sent Gabriel to gather dust from the four corners of the earth. But the earth refused. "I am destined to become a curse through this man," the earth said. "If God Himself does not take the dust, no one else shall." So God personally reached down, scooped up the dust, and formed Adam from four colors: white for bones and sinews, black for intestines, red for blood, and green for skin.

Adam's creation took twelve hours. In the first hour God gathered the dust. By the fourth, He breathed a soul into the body. In the sixth hour, Adam named every animal. In the seventh, Eve was joined to him, built from a rib and flesh taken from his heart. By the tenth hour, Adam had already transgressed the command about the forbidden fruit. By the twelfth, he was expelled from Eden.

When Adam first stood, his height stretched from east to west. Every creature thought he was their creator and bowed before him. Adam corrected them: "Come, let us crown the One who actually made us."

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Bereshit Rabbah 8:5Bereshit Rabbah

The story goes that when the Holy One, Barukh Hu (blessed be He), decided to create Adam, the first human, it wasn't exactly a unanimous decision up in the heavenly realms. Rabbi Simon tells us, according to Bereshit Rabbah, that the ministering angels were all split into factions, some for and some against. It was a cosmic showdown!

Think of it like this: "Kindness and truth met; righteousness and peace touched" (Psalms 85:11). Kindness, naturally, was all for it: "Let him be created, as he performs acts of kindness!" But Truth? Truth was a tough sell. "Let him not be created, as he is all full of lies!" And Righteousness chimed in, "Let him be created, as he performs acts of righteousness," while Peace worried, "Let him not be created, as he is all full of discord."

So, what's a Creator to do when faced with such a deadlock? According to the story, God took Truth and cast it down to earth. Poof! Gone! As it says in (Daniel 8:12), "You cast truth earthward."

The angels weren't too happy about this. They protested, "Master of the universe, why are You demeaning Your very seal?" Because, "Truth" is considered the seal of the Holy One, Barukh Hu. The angels pleaded, "Let Truth ascend from the earth!" This sets the stage for the verse in (Psalms 85:12), "Truth will spring from the earth." A promise, perhaps, that truth, though temporarily banished, would eventually re-emerge from humanity itself.

But there's another layer to this. The Rabbis, in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina bar Idi, and Rabbi Pinḥas and Rabbi Ḥilkiya, citing Rabbi Simon, connect the word me'od (very) to Adam. the Hebrew letters for adam (אדם) and me'od (מאד) are the same, just rearranged. So, when (Genesis 1:31) says, "God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good," it's also hinting that Adam was good. The very essence of humanity, in its initial creation, was a force for good.

Rav Huna, the rabbi of Tzippori, adds a final, almost humorous note. While the angels were still debating and arguing, God just went ahead and created Adam anyway! He basically said, "Why are you deliberating? Man has already been created!" Talk about cutting through the red tape!

So, what does it all mean? Maybe it's a reminder that creation is messy, that even the divine plan can be subject to debate and disagreement. Maybe it's a reassurance that even though humanity is flawed, capable of lies and discord, we also possess the potential for kindness, righteousness, and, ultimately, truth. And maybe, just maybe, it's a cosmic wink, a reminder that sometimes, you just have to act, even when the angels are still arguing. What do you think?

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Legends of the Jews, II. Adam, Adam Laments and God Sends the Book of RazielLegends of the Jews

Adam wasn't just picking apples and feeling sorry for himself. He was wrestling with the big stuff – the future, his children, and the whole darn world.

Adam poured out his heart to God. Imagine him there, lamenting: "O God, Lord of the world! Thou didst create the whole world unto the honor and glory of the Mighty One..". He acknowledged God's power, his own failings, and the heavy weight of the unknown. He knew he messed up, big time. As he says, according to this ancient account, "From the time I ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, wisdom departed from me, and I am a fool that knoweth naught, an ignorant man that understandeth not." He begged for knowledge, for understanding, for a glimpse into what lay ahead for him and his descendants. "Grant me knowledge and understanding, that I may know what shall befall me, and my posterity, and all the generations that come after me.."

Then, on the third day of this intense prayer, something incredible happened.

While sitting by a river flowing out of Paradise (can you even imagine?), the angel Raziel appeared to Adam. And Raziel wasn't empty-handed. He carried a book. The Book of Raziel.

"O Adam, why art thou so fainthearted?" Raziel asked, according to Ginzberg's telling. He explained that Adam's prayers had been heard, and he, Raziel, was tasked with sharing profound wisdom. This wasn't just any book. This was a sacred text, containing the secrets of the future, knowledge of calamities, famines, wars. everything! Think of it as the ultimate cosmic almanac.

Raziel tells Adam that all of his descendants can be wise too, "if they will but read this book in purity, with a devout heart and an humble mind, and obey its precepts, will become like unto thee."

As Raziel read from the book, Adam was overwhelmed. But the angel reassured him, urging him to take the book and learn from it, to share its wisdom with those worthy. And in that moment, as Adam accepted the book, a flame shot up, and Raziel ascended back to heaven. Adam knew then that this book was a gift from God, a source of profound knowledge and holiness.

The text emphasizes the power and potential of the book, stating that "It is the book out of which all things worth knowing can be learnt, and all mysteries, and it teaches also how to call upon the angels and make them appear before men, and answer all their questions."

But here's the catch: not everyone can just pick it up and become a sage. The Zohar, that foundational text of Jewish mysticism, speaks of the importance of purity and devotion in accessing divine wisdom. Only the wise and God-fearing, those who approach it with holiness, can truly unlock its secrets. Such a person, the text assures us, will be protected from evil and find peace in this life and the next.

So, what do we make of this story? Is it a literal account? A metaphor? Perhaps it's both. It's a powerful reminder of our innate desire to understand the world around us, to confront the unknown, and to seek wisdom from a higher source. It also speaks to the importance of intention and purity of heart in our pursuit of knowledge. Maybe, just maybe, the Book of Raziel isn't a physical object, but a symbol of the wisdom available to us all, if we approach it with the right mindset.

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Zohar I:55bSefer haZohar

Some say they're locked away in a book, a very special book called the Book of Raziel.

This isn't your ordinary paperback. According to tradition, this book was revealed to Adam himself, back in the Garden of Eden. God wanted to show Adam all the generations to come, each with its wise sages and powerful leaders. But how do you show someone generations that don't even exist yet?

Well, some say God put Adam into a deep sleep and showed him everything in a dream. Others say Adam saw it all with his own eyes, as if reading a movie reel of the future. After all, the souls of everyone who would ever be born were already standing before God, in the forms they would eventually take on Earth.

That's where the angel Raziel, the Angel of Secrets, comes in. God sent Raziel to read the book to Adam. But when Adam heard the angel's words, he was overwhelmed with fear! So, God allowed Raziel to leave the book with Adam, so he could read it at his own pace. In this way, Adam gained knowledge of the future and became wise in all things.

What was this book even made of? Some say it was written on parchment, while others believe it was engraved on a sapphire stone. And how could Adam read a sapphire? The tradition tells us that he held it up to his eyes, and a flame burning inside the sapphire transformed into the shapes of letters. Amazing. There are even those who believe the true text of the Book of Raziel was actually the Torah itself! The Zohar tells us that the Torah was one of the seven things created before the rest of Creation. So, in a way, its wisdom was transmitted to Adam from the very beginning. The book contained secret writings that explained seventy-two branches of wisdom, mysteries even the angels didn't know! It held the entire history of humankind, past and future.

According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, whenever Adam opened the book, angels would gather around, hoping to glean some of its mystical secrets. But the angels got jealous! They pleaded with God, "Impart the mystery of Your glory to the angels, not to men!" But God had other plans. The angel Hadamiel was secretly sent to Adam, warning him, "Adam, Adam, do not reveal the glory of your Master, for to you alone and not to the angels is the privilege given to know these mysteries."

So Adam kept the book hidden, reading it in secret. But the angels' envy grew so intense that they stole the book and threw it into the sea! Can you imagine? Adam searched everywhere, fasting for days, until a heavenly voice announced, "Fear not, Adam, I will give the Book back to you." God then commanded Rahab, the angel of the sea, to retrieve the book and return it to Adam.

But the story doesn't end there. When Adam sinned, the book flew away from him! He begged God for its return, beating his chest and wading into the river Gihon until he was haggard and worn. God, seeing his remorse, sent Raphael, the Angel of Healing, to heal Adam and bring back the book.

After that, Adam studied the book intently and passed it down to his son Seth. As we find in (Genesis 5:1), "This is the book of the generations of Adam." The book was handed down from Seth to Enosh, to Kenan, to Jared, and eventually to Enoch. It was from this book that Enoch gained his vast knowledge of the Mysteries of Creation, and before he was transformed into the angel Metatron, he entrusted the book to his son, Methuselah.

Methuselah passed it to his son Lamech, and from there it reached Noah, Lamech's son, who used its instructions to build the ark! Some traditions even say the angel Raziel revealed the book directly to Noah and wrote it down for him on a sapphire stone. By reading it, Noah could understand the secrets of life and death, good and evil, and foresee the future. He could gaze at the destinies of the stars, the course of the sun, and even understand dreams and visions.

Happy was the eye that beheld that book, and happy the ear that listened to its wisdom, for in it were revealed all the secrets of heaven and earth. Noah placed the book in a golden box and brought it onto the ark. Later, it was revealed to Abraham, whose knowledge of it allowed him to gaze upon the glory of God. And from Abraham, it was passed down to Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, who used it to interpret dreams.

The story continues! The book was buried with Joseph, preserved when Moses raised his coffin from the Nile and carried it alongside the Tabernacle. Eventually, it came into the possession of King Solomon, who used its wisdom to build the Temple.

What happened to it then? Some say it was lost when the Temple was destroyed, its letters soaring away as flames consumed the Sanctuary. But others believe it was saved and secretly passed down through the generations. According to tradition, it reached Rabbi Adam and then the Ba'al Shem Tov, who learned supernal mysteries from it and became the Tzaddik, the righteous one, of his generation.

This story of the Book of Raziel is a chain midrash, a linked set of myths, attempting to explain (Genesis 5:1). Raziel ha-Malakh, first published in Amsterdam in 1701, claimed to be the book given to Adam. It's filled with names of God and angels, and texts for amulets. The book itself was believed to have talismanic powers, especially the ability to ward off fires and other disasters, which is why it was often found in Jewish homes.

The Maharal offers an interesting perspective: perhaps Adam had all future events revealed to him in a vision, and later they were recorded in this book. The fact that the angel leaves the book for Adam to read highlights the importance of books in Jewish tradition, even the first man could read!

So, what do you think? Is there a real Book of Raziel hidden somewhere, waiting to be discovered? Or is it a powerful metaphor for the endless quest for knowledge and wisdom that drives us all? Whatever the answer, the story of the Book of Raziel continues to inspire awe and wonder, reminding us that the pursuit of knowledge is a journey that can lead to the deepest secrets of the universe.

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Otzar Midrashim, Midrash Konen ('He Established') 1:9Midrash Konen

On the sixth day, He took water, dust, and light and created Behemoth on the mountains of a thousand, and the wild ox that grazes a thousand mountains every day. They play with it every day in Gan Eden before the Creator. He created cattle, wild animals, creeping things, and crawling things.

Afterward He gathered all the ministering angels, company by company. He said to them, "Let us make man" (Genesis 1:26). They said before Him, "Master of the universe, what is man that You remember him?" (Psalms 8:4). This was the company of Michael. Immediately He burned them with His great fire and left Michael alone.

He called the company of Gabriel and said to them as He had said to the first ones, and He burned them with His great fire and left Gabriel alone.

He called the company of Labiel. Labiel said before Him, "Master of the universe, who can tell You what to do? Do as You wish in Your world, for so it is fitting for You." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Labiel, "You have seen well for yourself, for you healed what your companions destroyed." Immediately He changed his name and called him Raphael, and He placed in his hand all kinds of healing in the world.

He said to Michael, "Go bring Me dust from the place of the Temple." He did so, and the Holy One, blessed be He, gathered it in His hand and made Adam the first man, as it says, "The Lord God formed the man" (Genesis 2:7).

The Holy One, blessed be He, appointed Michael and Gabriel over Israel, and Raphael He appointed over kinds of healing, and He placed in his hand every kind of pattern in the world. As the patterns of the upper waters, so are the patterns of the lower waters. There is one garden bed that is entirely one pattern, for it is the decree of the King that even one pattern draws nourishment from all of them. If all who come into the world gathered together, they could not make even one pattern. This is what Scripture says, "How many are Your works, O Lord" (Psalms 104:24).

There is no grass or tree that does not have a prince above it who turns it, brings it in its time, and makes it grow. This is what Scripture says, "Can you bring forth Mazzaroth in its season?" (Job 38:32).

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