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Joshua Toured Gehinnom and Solomon Built Over Its Mouth

The Messiah would not take him down. Joshua walked the seven chambers anyway. Solomon built the House over the same mouth and never went in.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The Angel Who Could Not Measure
  2. Lions of Fire and a Spared Son
  3. Elijah Showed Him the Gates
  4. The Page Who Lost His Wages
  5. The Roof Over the Mouth

Joshua ben Levi stood at a wall of fire and asked again. Show me Gehinnom.

Joshua Toured Gehinnom and Solomon Built Over Its Mouth Click for full size

The Messiah would not. "It is not fitting for the righteous to see it," he said. "There are no righteous people there." Joshua did not step back. He wanted the chambers, not a rumor of them.

The Angel Who Could Not Measure

He sent for the angel Qipod to measure Gehinnom from end to end. Qipod could not. In that hour Rabbi Ishmael and Rabbi Shimon son of Gamliel and ten other pious men were being put to death, and the measure would not hold. Joshua went to Qipod himself. The angel walked him as far as the fire at the gates. The Messiah came too, against his own warning.

The wicked inside saw the Messiah's light and cried out. "This one will bring us out of this fire!"

The cry did not open the gates. Joshua stepped through anyway.

Lions of Fire and a Spared Son

The first chamber ran a mile long and a mile wide. Open pits. Lions made of fire. Two brooks cut through it, and when the wicked fell in, the lions stood over them and threw them back into the flames. Joshua watched a body try the water and fail.

The second held nations, with Absalom set over them. The nations turned on him. If we sinned because we never took the Torah, what did you do? Your fathers stood at Sinai. Absalom did not argue the law. "I did not listen to my father," he said. The punishing angel Qushiel struck with a rod of fire, seven times by day and three by night. Absalom was pulled out each time. Sinai still covered a son who had hunted his own father.

The pattern held. Korah in the third. Jeroboam in the fourth. Ahab in the fifth. Micah in the sixth. Elisha ben Abuya in the seventh. Each Israelite sinner was hauled from the worst of it by the merit of ancestors who had said, we will do and we will hear. The dark in those rooms was the dark from before the first day. No soul could see the face next to it.

Elijah Showed Him the Gates

Later Joshua was walking when he met the prophet Elijah. "Would you like to be brought to the gate of Gehinnom?" Elijah asked.

"Yes," Joshua said.

Elijah showed him men hanging by their hair. They had grown it to look ready for sin. Others hung by their eyes, for following a gaze where it should not have gone. Others by their noses, for perfume used as a net. Others by their tongues, for slander. Others by their hands, for theft. Others by their feet, for running to do the harm. Women hung by their breasts for drawing men on purpose.

Deeper in, men were forced to eat coals. They had blasphemed. Others swallowed gall for eating on a fast. Others chewed sand until their teeth broke. God spoke to those mouths. When you ate stolen food it was sweet. Now you cannot eat even this.

Some were thrown from fire to snow and back. They had turned the poor from the door. Some were driven mountain to mountain like sheep, with death as the shepherd. For every sin an angel took a turn, like a creditor collecting. Three kinds never rose: the adulterer, the one who shames a neighbor in public, the one who swears false. Even Gehinnom kept Shabbat. On Friday the sinners were led to two mountains of snow and left until Saturday night. Some hid snow under their arms for the week. God rebuked them. You steal even here.

Joshua came back with the map in his mouth. He did not go silent. He taught.

The Page Who Lost His Wages

Solomon never asked to see those chambers. He had a different problem. A malicious spirit kept snatching the money and food of a page the king loved. It happened again. Solomon could not catch the thief. He prayed until the archangel Michael stood in front of him with a small ring.

"Take, O Solomon, king, son of David," Michael said. "The gift which the Lord God, the highest Zebaot, hath sent unto thee." With it he would lock the demons of the earth, male and female, and with their help build Jerusalem. He must wear the seal. The engraving was a Pentalpha, a five-pointed mark.

Solomon put the ring on. He called the demons up and asked each one a name, and the star or sign that ruled it, and the angel it answered to. One after another they were bound. He set them to work on the House. Some hauled water. Some dressed stone. The same kind of beings Joshua had seen below were now lifting weight in the sun.

The Roof Over the Mouth

The mountain of the House sat over the mouth of Gehinnom. Solomon built worship on top of the place Joshua had walked. The bound spirits pressed stone against stone above the domain they knew. Joshua had come back from fire lions and hanging mouths and kept teaching. Solomon sent a workforce into a dark he refused to tour.

The chambers stayed. The House rose. The mouth of Gehinnom had been seen and had been roofed. It had not been closed.

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From the tradition

Sources

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The texts behind this telling. Some cards carry a translation of the source; others are our own retelling of it, and each card says which. Every card links out to the original.

Chronicles of Jerahmeel XXIChronicles of Jerahmeel (Gaster, 1899)

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Chronicles of Jerahmeel, trans. Moses Gaster (1899) · Public Domain

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi wanted to see Gehinnom (the place of spiritual purification after death). The Messiah refused. "It is not fitting for the righteous to see it," he said, "for there are no righteous people in hell." But Rabbi Joshua pressed the matter, and eventually the angel Qipod escorted him to the fiery gates. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, what he found was a system of seven compartments, each more terrible than the last.

The first compartment measured one mile in length and breadth, filled with open pits containing lions made of fire. Two brooks ran through it, when the wicked fell in, the fire-lions standing above cast them back into the flames. When the Messiah accompanied Rabbi Joshua to the gates, the wicked saw his light and rejoiced, crying, "This one will bring us out of this fire!"

The second compartment held nations of the world with Absalom presiding over them. The nations argued among themselves, "If we sinned because we rejected the Torah, what sin did you commit?" They challenged Absalom: "Your ancestors accepted the Torah. Why are you punished?" He answered simply: "Because I did not listen to my father." The punishing angel Qushiel struck the wicked with a rod of fire, cast them into flames, and burned them, seven times daily and three times nightly. But Absalom himself was spared each time, because he descended from those who declared at Sinai, "We shall do, and we shall hear."

This pattern repeated through all seven compartments. Korah in the third, Jeroboam in the fourth, Ahab in the fifth, Micah in the sixth, and Elisha ben Abuya in the seventh. Each Israelite sinner was rescued from the worst punishments by the merit of their ancestors' covenant at Sinai. The darkness filling these compartments was the primordial darkness that existed before creation. So thick that no soul could see another.

Full source
Chronicles of Jerahmeel XVChronicles of Jerahmeel (Gaster, 1899)

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Chronicles of Jerahmeel, trans. Moses Gaster (1899) · Public Domain

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi was walking on the road when he met the prophet Elijah. "Would you like to see the gates of Gehinnom (the place of spiritual purification after death)?" Elijah asked. "Yes," he answered. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle compiled by Jerahmeel ben Solomon, what followed was a guided tour of punishments that matched each sin to the exact body part that committed it.

Elijah showed him men hanging by their hair. These had grown their hair long to make themselves attractive for sin. Others hung by their eyes, for following their gaze into transgression. Others by their tongues, for slander. Others by their hands, for theft. Others by their feet, for running to do evil. Women hung by their breasts for deliberately enticing men.

Deeper in, Elijah showed him men forced to eat fiery coals. These had blasphemed. Others swallowed bitter gall, punished for eating on fast days. Still others ate fine sand until their teeth broke. God Himself addresses these sinners: "When you ate stolen food it was sweet in your mouth. Now you cannot eat even this."

Others were thrown from fire to snow and back again, endlessly. These had turned away the poor who came asking for help. Others were driven from mountain to mountain like sheep, with death itself serving as their shepherd.

Rabbi Johanan explained the system: for every sin, a specific angel is appointed to extract its expiation. They take turns, like creditors collecting debts. Three categories of sinners descend to Gehinnom forever and never ascend: the adulterer, the one who publicly shames their neighbor, and the perjurer. But even Gehinnom observes the Sabbath. On Friday evening, the sinners are led to two mountains of snow and left there until Saturday night. Some try to smuggle snow under their armpits to cool themselves during the week. God rebukes them: "You steal even in Gehinnom."

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Legends of the Jews 5:86Legends of the Jews

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909) · Public Domain

The familiar telling remembers the human labor, the cedar from Lebanon, the gold and precious stones. But there's a less-told tale, a whisper from the shadows, involving beings not quite of this world: demons.

In legends, Solomon wasn't just a brilliant king; he was also a master of the mystical arts. The stories tell us that, in the beginning of the Temple's construction, things weren't going so smoothly. One of Solomon's pages kept losing his money and food to a mischievous, unseen force. Solomon, unable to catch the culprit, turned to the highest power. He prayed fervently to God, begging for deliverance from this wicked spirit.

His prayers were answered. As we read in Legends of the Jews by Ginzberg, the archangel Michael himself appeared before Solomon. He didn't come empty-handed. Michael presented Solomon with a small ring, a signet ring bearing a powerful seal. "Take, O Solomon, king, son of David," Michael said, "the gift which the Lord God, the highest Zebaot (hosts), hath sent unto thee." With this ring, Solomon could "lock up all the demons of the earth, male and female; and with their help thou shalt build up Jerusalem.

The ring wasn't just any piece of jewelry. It bore a Pentalpha – a five-pointed star – an engraving that held immense power. Solomon, now armed with this divine gift, summoned all the demons before him. A king, empowered by God, facing down the denizens of darkness.

He interrogated each demon, demanding their names and their celestial affiliations. He wanted to know which star, constellation, or zodiac sign held sway over them, and the name of the angel to whom they were subject. According to these legends, knowledge is power. And Solomon, through the ring, had the power to subdue them.

One by one, the spirits were vanquished. Solomon, wielding the power of the ring, compelled them to aid in the construction of the Temple. It's evidence of the power of faith and divine intervention. The Temple, a symbol of holiness and connection with the divine, was built not just by human hands, but with the unwilling assistance of the demonic realm. What does that tell us about the complexities of creation, and the surprising ways that even darkness can be channeled toward light?

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