When a person is about to die, the angel assigned to them delivers a devastating eulogy. Not a eulogy of praise. A eulogy of regret. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle compiled by Jerahmeel ben Solomon, the angel looks at the dying body and laments each part separately.
"Woe to these legs that never walked in the ways of God. Woe to these hands that occupied themselves with sin. Woe to these eyes that desired the property of strangers. Woe to these ears that refused to hear reproof. Woe to this mouth that consumed what belonged to others. Woe to this proud body that never bent in repentance."
Then the angel commands the soul to stand for judgment. "Know where you came from and where you are going," the angel says. "To a place of dust and worms. No one else can answer for you. The only defense is good deeds."
The text catalogs the consequences of specific transgressions with surgical precision. Whoever sins with their eyes, those eyes will grow dim. Whoever sins with their tongue, punishment will follow. Whoever sins with their hands will lose honor. Whoever leads others into sin will bury their own wife and children in their lifetime. These are not abstract warnings. They are mechanical spiritual laws, operating with the certainty of cause and effect.
The Chronicles then lists biblical figures who were destroyed by their own gifts. Samson, Abner, and Joab fell through their own strength. Ahitophel, Doeg the Edomite, and Balaam were undone by their own wisdom. Absalom and Adonijah were ruined by their beauty. Even Aaron the High Priest knew no joy from his sons Nadab and Abihu.
But the text ends with hope. The eye that does not sin will behold the Divine Glory. The heart that remains pure will see God with abundant joy. The mouth that avoids wrongdoing will sing praises before the Creator.
X. (1) The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.
Happy is the man in wiiom there is wisdom combined
with fear; one may be doing more, another less, pro-
vided that his heart is turned to heaven. (2) AVoe to
him whom this world leads astray; woe unto him who
does not walk in the ways of God; woe unto him who
hearkens to his evil inclination, or who does not listen to
his Creator; woe to him whose pleader becomes his
accuser; woe unto him who does not devote his heart to
his Father in heaven; woe to him whose wheel of life has
turned; woe unto the man who has been righteous and haS'
turned wicked; woe to him who loses his life's work in a>
rash moment, or causes the profanation of God's name.
(3) Certain punishments follow immediately upon the
committal of sin, others come after a time. There are
punishments which come one after the other, others
simultaneously. Some punishments come upon man while
he is asleep, others while he is awake; some come upon
him heavily, others lightly; some affect part of the body,
others the whole body; some, again, come upon one in his
youth, while others come in his old age; some which he
anticipates, others which he does not anticipate; some are
open and some are hidden, others, again, are revealed to
the whole world. And all the trouble, misery, and shame
come upon man in consequence of sin and transgression.
(4) Some bear their punishments with love; some worship
God for fear of suffering in their sustenance or in their
livelihood, or through the ill-health of their children, or
through the punishment of Gehinnom. Some worship Him
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in simplicity, in purity, in joy, and some in the hope that
they may make others worthy of reward. Some, again,
worship Him to guard themselves against punishments,
as it is said, ' When they are in trouble, they seek
Me early.' Everyone is judged while he is in full con-
sciousness, and this applies to the living and the dead
alike.
(5) When man is about to quit this world the angel
appointed over him says, ' Pity this body that goes out of
this world without having performed any good actions.' He
looks at his two legs, and says, ' Woe unto those legs which
have not walked in the ways of the Lord. Woe unto those
thighs which have not been eager to run after God's
Commandments. Woe unto the bowels which have enjoyed
stolen property. Woe unto those hands which have
occupied themselves with sin. Woe unto the mouth which
has consumed the property of others. Woe unto the eyes
which have desired the property of strangers. AVoe unto
those ears which have not hearkened to reproof. Woe to
that proud stature that has not bent in repentance. Woe
unto the spirit that has not humbled itself before its
Creator.' (6) The angel in anger bids him stand up for
judgment to relate his deeds. He says, 'Know whence thou
hast come, and whither thou art going — to a place of
dust and worms. Who is the Judge, and before whom art
thou to give account and reckoning ? If thou art able to
answer, then answer, for no one else can answer for thee;
there is no remedy except good deeds, as it is written, " Thy
righteousness shall go before thee." ' (7) What enjoyment
can it be for man to look upon sin, since it is like fire to
stubble, and like a sword to the neck, as an arrow to
the liver, as chains to the feet, as darkness to the eyes, as
gall to the mouth, and as chastisement to the body ?
Whoever induces another to swerve from the good path is
cut off in the midst of his days, and whoever flatters a
sinner, his days shall be shortened in this world. Whoever
scoffs at the Commandments will have no mercy shown to
him from heaven. (8) Whoever causes another to blush in
public will cause the book in which the sins of man are
inscribed to be opened. Whoever scoffs at the poverty of
the poor, behold he shall be brought low^, he will be
ahungered while others shall eat before him. Whoever
commits fraudulent transactions shall have no rest on the
eve of the Sabbath; behold, all the joys which gladden his
heart will be turned into mourning. He will be visited
on the day of reckoning with terrible judgment and with
much shame by relentless angels in the w^orld to come.
Therefore it is said, ' And what wilt thou do on the day of
visitation ?' (9) He who sins with his eyes, those eyes shall
become dim; he who sins with his mouth, behold his words
shall not be heard; he who sins by giving false advice,
behold his own prosperity shall vanish; he who sins in his
thoughts, his days shall be a constant vexation; he who
sins with his tongue, behold chastisement will overtake
him; he who sins with his hand shall lose his honour; he
who sins with his legs, the years of his life shall be
shortened; whoever sins in his heart shall die of grief;
whoever sins with his inclination, this very inclination shall
turn his accuser; he who sins and causes others to sin
shall bury his wife and his children during his lifetime; he
who sins purposely, the decree of Divine judgment wdll be
sealed against him; he who sins unwittingly is not in a
good moral condition.
(10) What benefit has a man by sinning? his ultimate
end is to quit this world for another, to go from light to
darkness, from life to death, from sleep which is sweet to a
sleep that is troubled; he is a prey for the w^orms; he passes
from sweet dainties to the taste of dust; from beautiful
garments to the shroud in the grave. But this is not all:
he moreover loses his soul. Many rich men have lost their
souls through their riches, such as Dathan and Abiram;
and the wisdom of many a wise man has caused him to come
to grief, as, for instance, Ahitophel, Doeg the Edomite, and
Balaam, the wicked one. Likewise many mighty men have
existed whose power has been the cause of their fall, as
Samson, Abner, Asael, and Joab. Many also have reared
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sons, but have had no joy from them, as Aaron, the High
Priest, who had no joy from Nadab and Abihu. All this
applies equally to the righteous as well as the wicked; death
overtakes them all. There were also many beautiful ones,
whose beauty was the cause of their downfall, such as
Absalom and Adonijah ben Hagith. There have been many
elders of the community who have departed this life
without honour, such as the great Sanhedrin in the time of
Zedekiah, who were slain by Nebuchadnezzar. And again,
how many young people have been snatched away from their
bridal canopy ! (11) Thus, what advantage can possibly
accrue to man by robbing and stealing ? for, although he
may thereby derive some temporal comfort, he must never-
theless render account and reckoning before God. What
benefit can man's joy be to him when it brings sorrow and
grief upon him ? What benefit is it for a man to inspire
fear, since punishment will overtake him ? What benefit
his proud strut if it brings pains upon him ? What benefit
his evil meditation, which brings in its train many kinds of
death ? What benefit his deception, which dashes his
prosperity to the ground ? On account of this the righteous
and the pious have no desire whatever for this world which
is fleeting. But how do we know that this world is fleeting ?
Because it is said, ' For a wind has passed over it, and it is
no more.'
(12) On the other hand, he is heir to the future world
who keeps aloof from strife, from evil talk, from cause-
less hatred, from inciting quarrels, who is truly modest,
who is devout in his prayer, and confesses his sins before
God. He it is who is loved by God. Therefore the
righteous have resolved to claim no honours, and to refrain
from pleasure. They have therefore placed a check upon
their eyes, their mouths, their hands, and their feet, to
prevent them from doing evil. The eye which does not
sin is worthy to behold the face of the Divine glory, as it
is said, ' Thine eyes shall behold the King in his beauty.'
The heart that does not sin shall be worthy to see the
Divine glory with abundant joy. The hand that does not
sin will be worthy of receiving every reward, as it is said,
' Behold the Lord God shall come with strength, and give
him mastery in his arm.' The mouth that does not sin
will be worthy of singing praises before God, as it is
written, ' And thou shalt say. On that day I will praise
Thee, 0 God.'
