Heavenly ascent and the Relationship of the Apocalypses and the Hekhalot Literature

With major advances in the study of the apocalypses and the hekhalot texts in recent years, it is an appropriate time to reexamine the process of ascent in the two bodies of literature. The instructions for ascent through the gates guarded by hostile angels or other dangers in Hekhalot Rabbati, Hekh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
Main Author: Himmelfarb, Martha 1952- (Author)
Format: Print Article
Language:English
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Published: College 1988
In: Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Judaism / Mysticism
IxTheo Classification:HC New Testament
Further subjects:B Apocalypticism
B Assumption
Description
Summary:With major advances in the study of the apocalypses and the hekhalot texts in recent years, it is an appropriate time to reexamine the process of ascent in the two bodies of literature. The instructions for ascent through the gates guarded by hostile angels or other dangers in Hekhalot Rabbati, Hekhalot Zuṭrati, and the Ozhayah fragment from the Geniza have more in common with certain ghostic works and the magical papyri than with the apocalypses. The songs for ascent in Hekhalot Rabbati and Maʿaseh Merkavah, on the other hand, should be understood against the background of the picture of heaven as a temple that plays a prominent role in the apocalypses, where the visionary often joins the angels in the heavenly liturgy. With its use of apocalyptic traditions about Enoch, the more developed narrative of 3 Enoch is more similar in form to the apocalypses than are the other hekhalot texts.
ISSN:0360-9049
Contains:In: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion