{"id":490,"date":"2013-04-24T19:35:48","date_gmt":"2013-04-24T19:35:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/?page_id=490"},"modified":"2013-06-01T16:24:16","modified_gmt":"2013-06-01T20:24:16","slug":"sefer-elijah","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/research-projects\/trajectories-in-near-eastern-apocalyptic\/sefer-elijah\/","title":{"rendered":"Sefer Elijah"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sefer Elijah<\/em>\u00a0or the \u2018Book of Elijah\u2019 was first published in an anthology of midrashic texts in Salonika in 1743.\u00a0This version of the text was subsequently reprinted by Adolph Jellinek,\u00a0ed.,\u00a0Bet ha-Midrasch: Sammlung kleiner Midraschim und vermischter Abhandlungen aus der j\u00fcdischen Literatur<\/em>\u00a0(6 vols.; Leipzig, 1853-77; repr., Jerusalem: Bamberger & Wahrmann, 1938), 3:65-68.\u00a0Another edition based on the version of the work found in Munich Ms. Hebr. 222, a manuscript dating from the fifteenth century containing an anthology of brief midrashim, was prepared by Moses Buttenwieser,\u00a0Die hebr\u00e4ische Elias-Apokalypse und ihre Stellung in der apokalyptischen Litteratur des rabbinischen Schrifttums und der Kirche<\/em>\u00a0(Leipzig: Eduard Pfeiffer, 1897).\u00a0Yehudah Even-Shmuel (Midreshey ge\u2019ullah<\/em>\u00a0[2d ed.; Jerusalem: Mosad Bialik, 1954], 41-48) publishes an eclectic version which combines and harmonizes the editions of Jellinek and Buttenwieser.\u00a0The same author has also published a later reworked version that is taken from a Yemenite manuscript of uncertain date.\u00a0The present translation utilizes Buttenwieser as its base text with frequent reference to the variant renderings found in the edition published by Jellinek.<\/p>\n

\u2018And he lay down and fell asleep beneath a broom-shrub.\u00a0Then lo, this angel touched him and said, \u201cGet up, eat!\u201d\u2019 (1 Kgs 19:5).\u00a0Michael, \u2018the great prince\u2019 of Israel, revealed this mystery to the prophet Elijah at Mount Carmel; (namely), the eschaton and what was scheduled to transpire at the End of Days at the end of the four empires (and) the things which would take place during the reign of the fourth ruler.<\/p>\n

A wind from the Lord lifted me (i.e., Elijah) up and transported me to the southern part of the world, and I saw there a high place burning with fire where no creature was able to enter.\u00a0Then the wind lifted me up and transported me to the eastern part of the world, and I saw there stars battling one another incessantly.\u00a0Again the wind lifted me up and transported me to the western part of the world, and I saw there souls undergoing a painful judgment, each one in accordance with its deeds.<\/p>\n

Then Michael said to me, \u2018The appointed time for the End of Days will occur during the reign of a king who will be named\u00a0Hrmlt<\/em>.\u00a0There are some that say that\u00a0Trmyl\u2019<\/em>\u00a0will be his name.\u2019\u00a0 R. Simai says\u00a0Hk\u0161rt<\/em>\u00a0will be his name.\u00a0R. Eleazar says Artaxerxes will be his name.\u00a0R. Judah b. Betira says Cyrus will be his name.\u00a0R. \u0160im\u2018\u014dn b. Yohai says Khusrau will be his name.\u00a0The halakhah in this case follows R. \u0160im\u2018\u014dn who said \u2018Khusrau\u2019 will be his name.<\/p>\n

The last king who rules Persia shall come up against the Romans three successive years until he expands (his gains) against them for twelve months.\u00a0Three mighty warriors will come up to oppose him from the west, but they will be handed over into his control.\u00a0Then the lowliest of the kings, the son of a slave woman and whose name is G\u012bg\u012bt, will confront him from the west.\u00a0These will be his signs, for Daniel has already foreseen him: his face will be long, there will be a bald patch between his eyes, he will be very tall, the soles of his feet will be high (sic<\/em>), and his thighs will be thin.\u00a0At that time he will attack the faithful people, and he will provoke at that time three agitations.\u00a0All the constellations will be gathered together and move to one place.\u00a0They will plunder houses and rob fields and strike the orphan and the widow in the bazaar, but if they perform penitence they will be forgiven.<\/p>\n

On the twentieth (day) of Marheshvan, the world will be shaken \u2018and the heavens and the earth will quake\u2019\u00a0(cf. Joel 4:16).\u00a0On the twentieth (day) of Kislev, all Israel will stand in prayer and clamor before their heavenly Father, and a sword will descend and fall upon the nations of the world, in accordance with what scripture says: \u2018The sword kills indiscriminately\u2019 (2 Sam 11:25).\u00a0On the twentieth (day) of Nisan, the first group of exiles will depart from Babylon: they will number eighteen thousand men and women, and not a single one of them will perish.\u00a0On the twenty-fifth (day) of Tishri, the second group of exiles will depart from the region of the River Sa(m)batyon: they will number seventeen thousand, but twenty men and fifteen women will be slain from among them.\u00a0On the twenty-fifth (day) of the eighth month (sic<\/em>; i.e., Marheshvan), the third group of exiles will depart.\u00a0They will weep and cry out on behalf of their brethren who were slain, and they will cry out in the desert for twenty-five days and not taste any (food), living instead \u2018on what issues from the mouth of the Lord\u2019 (Deut 8:3).\u00a0The first group of exiles will not leave Babylon until the second group arrives there, as scripture affirms: \u2018Writhe and push out, O daughter of Zion, like a woman giving birth.\u00a0For you will now go out of the city and dwell in the countryside, and you shall come to Babylon.\u00a0There you will be rescued; there will the Lord redeem you from the hand of your enemies\u2019 (Mic 4:10).<\/p>\n

On the twentieth (day) of Nisan, a king shall come up from the west, ravaging and horrifying the world.\u00a0He shall encroach upon \u2018the holy beautiful mountain\u2019 (Dan 11:45) and burn it.\u00a0Most cursed among women is the woman who gave birth to him: that is \u2018the horn\u2019 which Daniel foresaw, and that day will be one of torment and battle against Israel.<\/p>\n

Demetrius son of P\u014dryph\u014ds and Anf\u014dl\u012bp\u014ds son of Panf\u014ds will wage a second battle.\u00a0 Accompanying them will be ten myriads of cavalry, ten myriads of foot soldiers, and (another) ten myriads of troops concealed on ships.\u00a0On the twentieth (day) of Ellul, the Messiah will come: his name is Yinn\u014dn.\u00a0On that same day Gabriel will descend (and) from the ninth to the tenth hour will destroy from the world ninety-two thousand people.\u00a0On the twentieth (day) of Tebet, Mekketz, Q\u012brtalos, and all the cities allied with them will wage a third battle: a very large nation (extending) from the great plain unto Jaffa and Ashkelon.\u00a0 On the twentieth (day) of Shebat, the Messiah will come: angels of destruction will descend and destroy the whole of that multitude, and they will not leave (alive) a single soul.<\/p>\n

(It was) regarding this time that God spoke about to Abraham: \u2018Your progeny are destined to sink to the lowest level, as scripture states: \u201cAnd you shall be low, and you will speak from the ground\u201d (Isa 29:4), but afterwards they will be exalted higher than all the nations, as scripture affirms: \u201cand the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth\u201d (Deut 28:1).\u2019\u00a0After this all the Gentile nations will come and prostrate themselves before every Israelite and lick off the dust from their feet, as scripture says: \u2018kings will serve as your tutors, [while their princesses will be your nursemaids; they will prostrate themselves facedown on the ground to you and lick off the dust from your feet]\u2019 (Isa 49:23).<\/p>\n

On the twentieth (day) of Adar, the Messiah will come, and with him will be thirty thousand righteous ones, as scripture attests: \u2018Righteousness will be the wrap girdling his loins\u2019 (Isa 11:5).\u00a0When the nations of the world behold this happening, immediately each one of them will putrefy, both it and its cavalry, as scripture says: \u2018and this will be the affliction with which the Lord will strike all the nations, etc.\u2019 (Zech 14:12, 15).\u00a0At that time the Holy One, blessed be He, will address the nations of the world: \u2018Woe to you, o wicked ones, who are (alive) at the cessation of the four world empires!\u00a0All of you are to be expelled from the world, one wherein one\u00a0kor<\/em>\u00a0of wheat will yield about nine hundred\u00a0kor<\/em>s, and there will be analogous (fantastic yields) for wine and oil.\u00a0Every tree will bear choice produce and fruits, as scripture states: \u201cand you, o mountains of Israel, will make your branches yield, etc.\u201d (Ezek 36:8).\u2019\u00a0And Israel will eat (these fruits) and rejoice for forty years.<\/p>\n

After this the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring up Gog and Magog \u2018and all their associates,\u2019 and then all the peoples of the earth will assemble together and surround Jerusalem in order to make war.\u00a0The Holy One, blessed be He, will come up and do battle with them.\u00a0The Messiah will arrive, and with his help the Holy One, blessed be He, will wage war on them, as scripture forecasts: \u2018then the Lord will go forth and fight with those nations as when He did battle on the day of war\u2019 (Zech 14:3).\u00a0On that day mountains will quake and hills will shake and walls and towers will collapse.\u00a0The Holy One, blessed be He, will gather all the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth to feast on their flesh and to drink their blood, as scripture says: \u2018the vultures will spend summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth will spend winter upon them\u2019 (Isa 18:6).\u00a0Israel will spend seven years burning their weaponry, as scripture states: \u2018then the inhabitants of the cities of Israel will go out and set fire to the weaponry and burn (it) \u2026 for seven years\u2019 (Ezek 39:9).\u00a0It (also) says: \u2018The house of Israel will spend seven months burying them in order to purify the land\u2019 (Ezek 39:12).<\/p>\n

These are the cities which will experience devastation: Jericho, Be\u2019erot, Beth H\u014dr\u014dn, S\u012bser\u012bn, Milkah, Arad, Shall\u016bm, Samaria, Beth Migd\u014dl, Tyre, Beth H\u0090alsawet, Lod, B\u016bz, Beth \u2018Aynam, Hamath, Sefar,\u00a0\u0090Hadashah, Antioch, Alexandria, and \u2018Edom.\u2019\u00a0But as for all of the cities of Israel, fire and fiery angels will surround them, as scripture affirms: \u2018and I will be a wall of fire encompassing it\u2014utterance of the Lord\u2019 (Zech 2:9).\u00a0Afterwards the final day will come: its duration will be that of forty days.\u00a0The mountains and hills will shudder and quake, and the earth will cry out against the wicked, saying: \u2018In such-and-such a place did so-and-so kill so-and-so,\u2019 as scripture states: \u2018the earth will reveal her blood-guilt, etc.\u2019 (Isa 26:21).<\/p>\n

Elijah said: I beheld the dead taking form and their \u2018dust\u2019 being reshaped and made like (the forms they had) when they were formerly alive so that they might render praise to God, as scripture states: \u2018See now that I indeed am He [and there is no deity other than Me; I put to death and I resurrect, I sicken and I heal: none can escape from My power]\u2019 (Deut 32:39).\u00a0Also in Ezekiel it says: \u2018and I looked, and behold, sinews were upon them\u2019 (Ezek 37:8).\u00a0The ministering angels opened their tombs and injected them with their \u2018animating breaths,\u2019 and they revivified.\u00a0They (the angels) stood them up on their feet.\u00a0 They shoved everyone who merited punishment into a large hollow place two hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide.\u00a0The eyes of the righteous will witness the downfall of all those who did not take pleasure in (observing) the Torah of the Holy One, blessed be He, as scripture states: \u2018they will go out and see the corpses of those people who rebelled against Me \u2026\u2019 (Isa 66:24).<\/p>\n

Elijah said: I beheld fire and brimstone coming down upon the wicked from heaven, as scripture says: \u2018the Lord will rain coals of fire and brimstone upon the wicked\u2019 (Ps 11:6).\u00a0 The Holy One, blessed be He, will move the Temple a great distance from the place of eternal torment so that the righteous will not hear the sound of the cry of the wicked (suffering) and seek to obtain mercy for them.\u00a0\u2018They will be as if they never were.\u2019<\/p>\n

Elijah said: I saw Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the righteous ones in sitting postures, and the land before them was sown with every sort of delightful vegetation.\u00a0That tree which the Holy One, blessed be He, had prepared was standing in the middle of the garden, as scripture says: \u2018and there will grow by the stream on its bank on both sides every kind of fruit tree; their foliage will never wither, nor will their fruit ever fail\u2019 (Ezek 47:12).\u00a0Boats will come \u2018from En-gedi as far as\u2019 Eglayim bearing wealth and riches for the righteous ones.<\/p>\n

Elijah (may his memory be for a blessing) said: I beheld a great city, both beautiful and glorious, descending from heaven wherein it had been built, as scripture states: \u2018The already built Jerusalem, like the city associated to it\u2019 (Ps 122:3), perfectly constructed and with its people dwelling within it.\u00a0It is situated by three thousand towers, with 20,000\u00a0ris<\/em>\u00a0separating each tower.\u00a0Within the span of every\u00a0ris<\/em>\u00a0are 25,000 cubits of emeralds, pearls, and (other) jewels, as scripture says: \u2018I will inlay your battlements with gemstones\u2019 (Isa 54:12).<\/p>\n

Elijah said: I saw the houses and the gates of the righteous with their thresholds and door-frames constructed of precious stones.\u00a0(I saw) the treasuries of the Temple opened up to their doorways (sic<\/em>), and among them were Torah and peace, as scripture states: \u2018all your children will be instructed by the Lord; [your children will have great peace]\u2019 (Isa 54:13), and it says: \u2018those who love Your Torah have great peace\u2019 (Ps 119:165), and it says: \u2018How great is Your beneficence which You have stored up for those who revere You\u2019 (Ps 31:20).<\/p>\n

End of\u00a0Sefer Elijah<\/em>, may his memory be for a blessing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sefer Elijah\u00a0or the \u2018Book of Elijah\u2019 was first published in an anthology of midrashic texts in Salonika in 1743.\u00a0This version of the text was subsequently reprinted by Adolph Jellinek,\u00a0ed.,\u00a0Bet ha-Midrasch: Sammlung kleiner Midraschim und vermischter Abhandlungen aus der j\u00fcdischen Literatur\u00a0(6 vols.; Leipzig, 1853-77; repr., Jerusalem: Bamberger & Wahrmann, 1938), 3:65-68.\u00a0Another edition based on the version […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":454,"featured_media":0,"parent":136,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-490","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P3kl1F-7U","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/454"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1051,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/490\/revisions\/1051"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}