{"id":54,"date":"2013-04-10T20:13:29","date_gmt":"2013-04-10T20:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/?page_id=54"},"modified":"2013-05-24T13:23:06","modified_gmt":"2013-05-24T17:23:06","slug":"bereshit-rabbati-on-shemhazai-azael","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/course-materials\/rels-2104-hebrew-scripturesold-testament\/bereshit-rabbati-on-shemhazai-azael\/","title":{"rendered":"Bereshit Rabbati on Shemhazai & Azael"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIDRASH OF SHEMHAZAI AND AZAEL<\/strong><\/p>\n

Translation from\u00a0Midrash Bereshit Rabbati<\/em>\u00a0(ed. Hanokh Albeck; Jerusalem: Mekitze Nirdamim, 1940), 29.14-31.8.\u00a0 See also\u00a0Yalqut Shimoni<\/em>\u00a0\u00a744, extracted and reprinted in Jellinek,\u00a0BHM<\/em>\u00a04:127-28, and Eisenstein,\u00a0Otzar midrashim<\/em>\u00a02:549-50; R. Martini,\u00a0Pugio Fidei adversus Mauros et Judaeos<\/em>\u00a0(Lipsiae: Sumptibus haeredum F. Lanckisi, 1687), 937-39; Oxford Bodleian Ms. Heb. d 11, fol. 21v (no. 2797) = Moses Gaster,\u00a0The Chronicles of Jerahmeel<\/em>\u00a0(reprinted, New York: Ktav, 1971), 52-54 (English translation only).\u00a0 A synoptic edition of these four versions is available in J. T. Milik,\u00a0The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumr\u00e2n Cave 4<\/em>\u00a0(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976), 322-26.\u00a0 Note also Reeves,\u00a0Jewish Lore<\/em>, 143 nn. 165-66.<\/p>\n

R. Joseph said: The angels noticed that the Holy One, blessed be He, was perturbed because He had created human beings. Immediately two of the angels, whose names were Shemhazai and \u2018Azael, stood before the Holy One, blessed be He, and said to Him: \u2018Master of the Universe! Did we not say to You at the time You created Your world, “do not create human beings,” as Scripture attests: \u2018what is man that You are mindful of him, etc.\u2019 (Ps 8:5)? The Holy One, blessed be He, answered them: \u2018And the world? What will happen to it?\u2019 They said to Him: \u2018We will prove sufficient for it.\u2019 He said to them: \u2018It is revealed and known to Me that if you were to be in their world, the evil impulse would gain control of you just as it has gained control of human beings, (and) you would be worse than them.\u2019 They said to Him: \u2018Grant us the power to live with the created beings, and You will see how we sanctify Your name.\u2019 The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: \u2018I have already granted you such power.\u2019<\/p>\n

Immediately they descended (to earth), and the evil impulse gained control of them. When they beheld the beauty of mortal women, they went astray after them, and were unable to suppress their lust, as Scripture attests: \u2018and the sons of God saw, etc.\u2019 (Gen 6:2). Shemhazai beheld a maiden whose name was \u2019Asterah. He fixed his gaze upon her (and) said to her: \u2018Obey me!\u2019 She answered him: \u2018I will not obey you until you teach me the Inexpressible Name, the one which when you pronounce it you ascend to Heaven.\u2019 He immediately taught her, she pronounced it, and she ascended to Heaven. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: \u2018Since she has kept herself pure from sin, I will make her an example so that she might be remembered in the world.\u2019 Immediately he fixed her (in the heavens) among the seven stars of the Pleiades. When Shemhazai and \u2018Azael saw this, they arose, married women, and engendered children.<\/p>\n

Rabbi said: Has it occurred to you that corporeal beings would (not) have been able to come into contact with the angels? Behold, it is written that \u2018his servants are flaming fire\u2019 (Ps 104:4)! However, this teaches that when the angels fell from their holy stations in heaven, the evil impulse gained control of them as it does of human beings, and their size was made consonant with that of humans, and they were garbed with a mass of dirt, as Scripture says: \u2018My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dirt, etc.\u2019 (Job 7:5). R. Zadok said: The \u2018Anaqim were born from them, those who were insolent and arrogant and who deliberately engaged in robbery, violent behavior, and the shedding of innocent blood, as Scripture attests: \u2018and there we beheld the Nefilim, etc.\u2019 (Num 13:33), and it says: \u2018the Nefilim were in the land\u2019 (Gen 6:4).<\/p>\n

It is taught that Shemhazai fathered two sons whose names were Hayya and Hiyya. They in turn took wives and engendered Sihon and \u2018Og. R. Joseph said: At the time that the decision for the coming of the Deluge into the world was reached, the Holy One, blessed be He, dispatched Metatron as a messenger to Shemhazai. He reported to him: \u2018The Holy One, blessed be He, is planning to destroy the world.\u2019 Shemhazai arose and loudly wept and lamented, and grieved for the world and for his sons, \u2018for each of them would eat one thousand camels, one thousand horses, and one thousand of every kind of cattle (daily). How now will they survive?\u2019<\/p>\n

It is taught that one night (when) Hayya and Hiyya, the sons of Shemhazai, were asleep, they both dreamed dreams. One of them beheld in his dream a large stone spread out over the earth like a table, and the whole of it was chiseled and inscribed with many rows (of characters). Then an angel descended from heaven with a type of knife in his hand, and scraped and effaced all of those rows (of characters), leaving only one row containing four words. And the other saw in his dream a large and flourishing garden, and that garden was planted with every type of tree and all sorts of delightful (plants), and then angels came bearing hatchets and cut down the trees, leaving only one tree which had three branches. When they awoke from their slumber, they arose in terror and came to their father and recounted the dreams to him. He said to them: \u2018My sons, the Holy One, blessed be He, is planning to bring a Deluge into the world to destroy it, and nothing will be left in it except for one man and his three sons.\u2019 They immediately (began) crying and weeping, saying: \u2018Then what will become of us? How will our name be remembered?\u2019 He said to them: \u2018Do not be anxious or perturbed, for your names will not disappear from the created order. Every time that (men) drag or lift stones and logs {for} their needs, they will always shout \u2018heave!\u2019 and \u2018ho!\u2019 Immediately their anxieties were calmed.<\/p>\n

They have said about him; i.e., Shemhazai, that he repented and suspended himself upside-down between heaven and earth because he had no excuse for his behavior before the Holy One, blessed be He, and to this very day he remains suspended between heaven and earth in repentance. \u2018Azael however did not repent, and he was appointed chief over all types of coloring agents and cosmetics for women which entice men to sexual immorality, and he still persists in his corruptive activity. Therefore Israel brings offerings and casts one lot for the Lord, so that He might accept atonement for all the sins of Israel, and one lot for \u2018Aza(z)el, so that he might bear the burden of the sins of Israel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MIDRASH OF SHEMHAZAI AND AZAEL Translation from\u00a0Midrash Bereshit Rabbati\u00a0(ed. Hanokh Albeck; Jerusalem: Mekitze Nirdamim, 1940), 29.14-31.8.\u00a0 See also\u00a0Yalqut Shimoni\u00a0\u00a744, extracted and reprinted in Jellinek,\u00a0BHM\u00a04:127-28, and Eisenstein,\u00a0Otzar midrashim\u00a02:549-50; R. Martini,\u00a0Pugio Fidei adversus Mauros et Judaeos\u00a0(Lipsiae: Sumptibus haeredum F. Lanckisi, 1687), 937-39; Oxford Bodleian Ms. Heb. d 11, fol. 21v (no. 2797) = Moses Gaster,\u00a0The Chronicles of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":454,"featured_media":0,"parent":44,"menu_order":10,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-54","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P3kl1F-S","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54","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=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":813,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54\/revisions\/813"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/44"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}