Abraham Sings the Celestial Hymn Before God's Throne

While Iaoel was still speaking, fire closed in around them on every side. A voice was inside the fire, like the voice of many waters (Ezekiel 1:24), like the roaring of the sea in its uproar. The angel bowed his head and worshipped. Abraham wanted to fall to the ground, but there was no ground to fall upon. The high place on which they stood rose upright one moment and plunged downward the next, shaken by the force of the Divine Voice.

"Only worship, Abraham," Iaoel said. "Utter the song I have taught you."

There was no earth beneath him. No solid footing. Only the song could hold him in place. And so Abraham sang, and the angel sang with him, the celestial hymn of praise:

Eternal, mighty, Holy El,<br/> God only, Supreme!<br/> Self-originated, incorruptible, spotless,<br/> Uncreated, immaculate, immortal,<br/> Self-complete, self-illuminating;<br/> Without father, without mother, unbegotten,<br/> Exalted, fiery One!

Lover of men, benevolent, bountiful,<br/> Jealous over me and very compassionate;<br/> Eli, that is, My God,<br/> Eternal, mighty, holy Sabaoth,<br/> Very glorious El, El, El, El, Iaoel!

You are He whom my soul has loved!<br/> Eternal Protector, shining like fire,<br/> Whose voice is like thunder,<br/> Whose look is like lightning, all-seeing,<br/> Who receives the prayers of such as honor You!

You, O Light, shine before the light of morning upon Your creatures,<br/> And in Your heavenly dwelling places there is no need of any other light<br/> Than the unspeakable splendor from the lights of Your countenance.

Accept my prayer,<br/> Likewise also the sacrifice which You have prepared through me who sought You!<br/> Accept me favorably, and show me, and teach me,<br/> And make known to Your servant as You have promised me!

A mortal man, standing in midair, singing words that only angels were meant to know. The fourfold "El" was a substitute for the unutterable Name. The name "Iaoel" applied here not to the angel but to God Himself. Abraham had crossed over into a language reserved for the heavenly court.

And while he yet spake (and) lo! fire7 came again st us 8round about,8 and a voice was in the fire like a voice of many waters, 9 like the sound of the sea in its uproar. 10 And the angel bent his head with me and worshipped.11 And I desired to fall down upon the earth, and the high place, on which w e stood, [at one moment rose upright,]12 but at another rolled downwards. 13 And he said: “O nly worship, Abraham, and utter the song which I have taught thee;” because there was no14 earth to fall upon. And I worshipped only , and uttered the song which

S, where. K, mine eyes. The mortal m an, con sci ous of his weakness, is blinded by th e heavenly light. On the other hand, Adam, before he fell, was able to see by its aid “from one end of the world to th e o ther” (T.B. Hag. 12a). i. e. proclaiming His holiness, so A ; in S th e wor d is co rrupt. K (which may preserve the right reading here) has: “[wi t h a g r ea t v o ice] saying: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord.” In 1 Enoch xxxix. 12 the trisagion (Is. vi. 5) is the song of the angelic watchers. God is Himself invisible. Omitted by S. The Divine Presence is revealed by fire (Ex. iii. 2, Deut. iv. 36, Ps. lxxviii. 14), and God Himself i s s p oken of as “a consuming fire” (Deut. iv. 24, ix. 3). But here th e fiery chariot which bore the D i vi n e Presence is probably thought of; cf. Ezek. i. 4 (“a great cloud with a fire infolding itself”). A omits. Cf. Rev. i. 15 (Dan. x. 6). This feature is part of the supernatural colouring so c h ar ac t er i stic of Apocalyptic—the heavenly ligh t is of dazzling brilliance, the divine voice is like thunde r (c f. 2 En och xxxix. 7: “like great thunder with continual agitation of the clouds”); see Volz, Der G eis t G ott es , p. 120 f. Cf. Is. xvii. 12. A strongly Jewish touch—divine h o n o u r m ay b e paid to God alone, and to none other, even the most exalted of heavenly beings; cf. Rev. xxii. 9. S omits. This description is in terestin g. The seer has ascen ded “as with many wi n ds ” to h eaven, and is standing “on the height” (chap. xv.). He exp e r i en c e s a s trong feeling of desire to fall down upon the earth, because the high place on wh ich he is standing with the angel, at o ne moment rose upright, at another plunged downward (cf. 4 Ezra vi . 2 9 and 13-16). The commotion is produced by the Divine Voice. In chap. xxx. the seer finds himself suddenly (while God is speaking) again upon the earth. A omits no.

he had taught me.1 And he said: “Recite without ceasing.” And I recited, and he 2also himself2 with me3 recited the song:4 Eternal, mighty, Holy, El,5 God only—Supreme! Thou who art self-originated,6 incorruptible, spotless, Uncreate, immaculate, immortal, Self-complete, self-illuminating; Without father, without mother, unbegotten,7 Exalted, fiery One! Lover of men,8 benevolent,9 bountiful,10 jealous over me and very compassionate;11

Only the angels understand h ow to utter the divine song of praise, though t he blessed among mortals may (as here) be taught to si n g thus in a state of ecstasy. Each of the angelic spheres has its own “Voice” (cf. 1 Enoch xl. 3 ff.), and the angelic language is incomprehe n s i b l e t o m o r t als (cf. chap. xv. abov e, en d), though the illuminated and in spired seer may be taught both to understand and utter such “words” (as here; cf. ¦< (8fF F"4H 8"8,Ã< in N.T.). The exalted En och in heaven underwent a sim ilar experience (cf. 1 E n o ch l x xi. 11 f.: “I fell on my face and my whole body melted away, but my spirit was tr ansf igu red, and I cried with a loud voice,” etc.), as also did Isaiah (Asc. Is. viii. 17). According to Philo no beings can adequately express th e pr ais e due t o God (Life of Moses, ii. xxxi. [§ 239]), contrast Ecclus. xxxix. 6. See further Volz, op. cit., p. 137. 3

A omits. S omits. In Asc. Is. viii. 17 the inspired seer joins with the angel in the celestial song of praise. K, + the firs t s on g of Abraham which I, the holy angel Jaoel, taught him (while) moving with him in the air.

A K omit El. Cf. the opening lines of the Jewish med iæ v al h ym n , ’Adon ’ôl~m “Lord of th e world He reigned alon e, while yet creation was unformed,” and for “self-originat ed ” the phrase “beginningless” (blî r’shîth) applied to God in the same context. The divine n ame Shaddai was traditionally explained as = “the self-sufficient” (sh-dai hß lô). This idea may underlie the text here. C f . Heb. vii. 3, BVJTD :ZJTD •(g<g"8`(0J@H, of Melchizedek (= Heb. b‘’‘n ’~b b’‘n ’‘m be’‘n yahas). As Westcott rem arks (ad loc.), “The words (BVJTD, :ZJTD ) were used con stantly in Greek mythology (e.g. of Athene and Hephæstus); and so passed into the loftier concep t io n s of the Deity, as in th at of Trismegistus quoted by Lactantius (iv. 13): ipse enim pater Deus et origo et principium rerum quoniam parentibus caret BVJTD atque :ZJTDa Trismegisto verissime nominatur, quod ex nullo sit procreatus.” = N4 8V <2D TB@<: cf . Wisdom i. 6 (“For Wisdom is a spirit that loveth men” [N48V<2DTB@< B<gØ"]. = ? PD0FB`H. = P"D4FJ46`H. Cf. Deut. v. 9 f. The whole clause (from “lover of men” to “compassionate”) contains a short s um m ary of the divine attributes based upon Ex. xxxiv. 6, 7, a passage much used in later liter atur e (cf. e. g. Wisdom xv. 1), and especially in th e Liturgy; cf. 4 Ezra v i i . 132-viii. 3 and the writer’s notes thereon. These attributes are predicab l e es p ecially of the Tetragrammaton (Jahveh), which connotes more particularly the elements of mercy and compassion, while ’ElÇhâm denotes multiplied power (the Almighty), and is associated with the idea of justice and fixed law; ’El is pa r t o f ’El Ç hâm and den otes simply power.

Eli, that is, My God— Eternal, mighty holy Sabaoth,1 very glorious El, El, El, El, Jaoel!2 Thou art He whom my soul hath loved! Eternal Protector, shining like fire, Whose voice is like the thunder, 3 Whose look is like the lightning, all-seeing,4 Who receiveth the prayers of such as honour Thee! [And turneth away from the requests of such as embarrass with the embarrassment of their provocations, Who dissolveth the confusion s of th e world5 which arise from the ungodly and righ teous 6 in the corruptible age,7 renewing the age of the righteous! 8]9

Thou, O Light, shinest10 before the light of the11 morning upon Thy creatures,

Th e use of Sabaoth alone as a designation of God is unusual, but not unexampled; cf. Ex. rabba i i i . 6 [in answer to Moses’ question, What is His name? Ex. iii. 13]: “Th e Holy One, blessed be He, sai d: Dost thou seek to know my n am e? I am cal led accordin g to my deeds. I am called at various times by the names ’El Shaddai, Sabaoth, Elohim, Jahveh. When I judge the cre at u r es I am named Elohim, and wh en I wage war against the wicked I am called Sabaoth, and wh en I suspen d (th e punishment) o f m a n ’s s i n s I am called ’El Shaddai, and wh en I compassionate my world I am called Jahveh, because Jahveh m eans nought else but the attribute of compassion, as it is said (E x . x x x i v . 6 f.) Jahveh, Jahveh a God full of compassion,” etc. The fourfold El (attested only by S) look s like a substitution for the Tetragrammaton; Jaoel (here applied to God) is undoubtedly so. Elsewhere in this book it is the designation of the archangel. Cf. Note3 at beginning of this chapter. Cf. Dan. x. 6 (“and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his ey e s a s l am p s o f f i r e”) and Ezek. i. 13, 14. Lit. “the all” (Heb. ha-kÇl); the expression is som etimes so used in the later Hebrew Liturgy. The mixture of good and evil, or rather of the righteous and ungodly, in this wo rl d, m akes the present æon “corruptible” (cf. 4 Ezra iv. 2 6 - 3 0) ; e v en the righteous themselves suffer from contact with the godless—their h oliness is dimm ed. i. e. the present corruptible age ( o r “ æ o n ” ) ; cf. 4 Ezra vii. 112, xiv. 13 (“ th e life that is corruptible”). The confusions of th e present world w i l l b e o v ercome by the elimination of the godless; then the renovated world (i. e. the present world purified) will become the fit habitati on of t h e righteous. This view harmonises with the Rabbinical, whi ch contemplated a renovation of the present world; see further Volz, Eschatologie, p. 297, and cf. Jubilees, passim. The bracketed clause i s at t e s ted by A K, but om itted by S; it is probably an interpolation. The rhythm is much improved by its omission. Or “Thou shinest as Light”; the original Semitic text should pro b a b l y b e rendered “Thou didst shine.” Light is th e most striking feature in the highest h eaven (cf. 2 E n o c h x x. i, “I saw there a very great light,” and xxxi. 2); God is Light (cf. 1 John i. 5 ). H i s majesty is surrounded with light to make Him invisible to all beings (T. B. Megilla, 19b). It is this heavenly light which is referred to here (cf. also Wisdom vii. 26 f., where Wisdom is represented as t h e r ad ian ce of the everlasting light). The first act of creation was when God “robed Himself with light as with a garment” (Ps. civ. 2), while the “radian ce o f His glory” (Heb. ziv h|d~r Ç) illumined the earth from one end to th e ot h er (c f. Gen. rabba iii., Pirke de R.

Eliezer iii.). This h eavenly light was afterwards withdrawn; the lumin aries receive their light fro m a s p ark o f i t . Fo r ligh t as a symbol of blessedness cf. Volz, Eschatologie, p. 328. Ps. xix. contrasts natural (created) and spiritual light. Perhaps, as Ginzberg suggests, “before the morning l i g h t ” i s a mistranslation of the Semitic origin al “before the primæval morning” (’ôr r§shôn or nhôr~ kadm Çniyy~). The meani ng o f t h e original line would be that God at first illumined the earth with the heavenly radiance. [so that it becometh 1 day upon the earth,]2

And in Thy2 heavenly dwelling places there is no need of any other light than (that) of the unspeakable splendour from the lights of Thy countenance. 3 Accept my prayer [and be well-pleased with it],4 likewise also the sacrifice which Thou hast prepared Thee through me who sought Thee! Accept me favourably, and shew me, and teach me, And make known to Thy servant as thou hast promised me!5

Abraham’s Vision of the Divine Throne (Chapter XVIII.).