The sun went down. Smoke rose from the ground like the smoke of a furnace (Genesis 15:17). The angels who held the portions of the sacrifice ascended from the top of the smoking furnace into the sky.
Then Iaoel took Abraham by the right hand, set him upon the right wing of the pigeon, and seated himself upon the left wing of the turtledove. These were the same birds that had not been slaughtered or divided. They were the vehicle of ascent.
The angel bore Abraham upward, past the borders of flaming fire, ascending as if carried by many winds to the heaven fixed above the surface of the earth.
On the height to which they ascended, Abraham saw a light so strong it was impossible to describe. The uncreated light, the primordial radiance that tradition says originally illuminated the entire world before Adam's transgression, when a person could see from one end of creation to the other.
Within this light, Abraham saw a fiercely burning fire. And within the fire, people. Many people, all of them constantly changing in aspect and form, running and being transformed, worshipping and crying out with sounds Abraham could not understand.
These were the hosts of angels born daily from the river of fire that flows beneath the throne of glory. Each morning God creates a new angelic host. They sing their song of praise before Him. Then they vanish. They never repeat the same song twice. Abraham was watching this daily creation and dissolution of angelic life, the most intimate rhythm of the heavenly world.
And it came to pass when the sun went down, and lo! a smoke as of a furnace. 6 And the
angels who had the portions of the sacrifice7 ascended from the top of the smoking furnace.
And the Angel took me with the 8 right hand and set me on the right wing of the pigeon, and
set himself on th e left9 wing of the turtle dove, which (birds) had neither been slaughtered nor
divided. And he bore me to the borders of the flaming fire [and we ascended as with m any winds
to the heaven wh ich was fixed upon th e surf ace. 1 0 And I saw on the air ]11 on the height, to which we
ascended a strong light, which it was impossible to describe,12 and lo! in this light a fiercely
burning fire for people, many people of male appearance,13 all (constantly) changing in aspect
and form, running and being transformed, and worshipping and crying with a sound of words
which I knew not.14
Th e bracketed clause is attested by A K, but i s abs en t from S. It may be a later interpolation (but
see Introduction).
A fine psychological touch.
The text may be corrupt. It might mean an over-powering will.
The bracketed clause is attested by A K, but is absent f r o m S . It i s obviously a parallel and
alternative text to the preceding clause.
Accordin g to Sreznevsky’s reading (no se ni ti, lit. “not th is nor th at”).
Cf. Gen. xv. 17 (also xv. 12).
Cf. chap. xii. above.
A, his.
A omits.
i. e.? the heaven above the firmament.
Omitted accidentally in S by h omoiotelen ton (“ascended . . . ascended”).
i. e. the uncr eated light, which origin ally illumin ated the earth, but was with drawn when Adam
sin ned. See furth er notes on xvii. below.
K, sex.
Th e description refers to the host of angels who are born daily, sing their song of praise befor e G od,
and then disappear; cf. Genesis rabba lxxviii. 1: Rabbi Helbo in the name of R. Samuel bar Nahman said:
“One angel-host never r ep eat s the song of praise, but every morning God creates a new angel-host and these
cantillate a new song before H im an d then disappear.” They are created daily out of the stream of fire th at
proceeds from th e holy hayyoth (ibid.); cf. Ps. c i v . 4 . C f . also 2 Enoch xxix. 3: “And from the fire I made
the ranks of the spiritual hosts, ten thousand angels, and their weapons ar e f i er y, a nd their garment is a
burnin g flame”; see further Weber, p. 166 f.
