Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Hermann L. Strack and Paul Billerbeck on the Belief in a Multiplicity of Heavens

  

The following comes from:

 

Hermann L. Strack and Paul Billerbeck, A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud & Midrash (ed. Jacob N. Cerone; trans. Joseph Longarino; vol. 3; Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2021), 615–618.

 

12:2 C: To the third heaven.

 

ἕως τρίτου οὐρανοῦ, in the apostle’s mind = to the highest heaven, to the immediate vicinity of God. The ancient period denoted the highest heaven as “heaven of heavens.”a In this expression, it was found that, numerically, two heavens were taught. On the basis of the fuller formula: “Heaven and the heaven of heavens” (1 Kgs 8:27), others supposed that there were three heavens.b Around the middle of the 2nd century, rabbinic circles spoke of seven heavens.c This view then became the dominant one. It is doubtful whether Rabban Yohanan b. Zakkai († ca. 80) already based his exposition in b. Ḥag. 13A (= b. Pesaḥ. 94A, B) on seven heavens; see the passage at § Matt 11:23 A. In any case, though, some of the pseudepigrapha are already familiar with seven heavens.c Differently, 2 Enoch refers to ten heavensd and 3 Baruch to five heavens.e

a. 1 Enoch 1:3f.: “The great holy one will go out from his dwelling and the God of eternity will go from there to Mount Sinai (for the last judgment), he will be visible with his armies and he will appear in the power of his might from the heaven of heavens.” — 1 Enoch 71:5: “Then the spirit transported Enoch to the heaven of heavens.”

 

b. Midrash Psalm 114 § 2 (236A): The Rabbanan said, “There are two firmaments (= heavens); for it says, ‘He who rides along in the heaven of heavens’ (Ps 68:34).” Our teachers said, “(There are) three (heavens); for it says, ‘Heaven and the heaven of heavens’ (1 Kgs 8:27).” — Yet this fuller formula was also interpreted as referring to two heavens; so b. Ḥag. 12B: R. Judah (ca. 150) said, “There are two firmaments; for it says, ‘Behold, to Yahweh your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens’ (Deut 10:14).” — Likewise, Rab († 247) in Deut. Rab. 2 (199B).

 

c. Babylonian Talmud Ḥagigah 12B: R. Meir (ca. 150, so read with ʾAbot R. Nat. 37 instead of “Resh Laqish,” ca. 250) said, “There are seven (firmaments = heavens), and they are: וֵילוֹן (= velum, curtain), רָקִיעַ (firmament), שְׁחָקִים (thinning, in the sense of the midrash = grinding), זְבוּל (dwelling), מָעוֹן (dwelling), מָכוֹן (place), and עֲרָבוֹת (according to the midr., tantamount to עֲדָפֶל = the darkness). — The וילון is nothing actual (permanently existing), but rather comes in the morning (to cover the stars, like a curtain) and disappears in the evening (so the stars appear) and so daily renews the work of creation; as it says, ‘Who stretches out heaven like a towel of gauze (= curtain) and spreads it out like a tent to dwell in’ (Isa 40:22). — The רקיע, to which the sun and moon, stars and the planets are affixed; as it says, ‘God set them on the רקיע (the firmament) of heaven’ (Gen 1:17). — שחקום, in which are the millstones, which grind the manna for the righteous; as it says, ‘He commanded the shechaqim above (= the clouds, which the midrash interprets as “the grinders”) and opened the door of heavens and made manna rain down on them for food’ (Ps 78:23f.). — זבול, in which the (heavenly) Jerusalem and the (heavenly) sanctuary and an altar is built, at which Michael, the great prince, stands and on which he brings the offering; as it says, ‘I have built a house as a dwelling זבול for you, a place מכון for your throne forever’ (1 Kgs 8:13). And how do we know it (זבול) is called ‘heaven’? Because it is written, ‘See from heaven and look down from your holy and splendid dwelling (זבול)’ (Isa 63:15). — מעון, in which the divisions of the angels of service are, who say a song at night, but remain silent by day for the sake of Israel’s honor (because by day the latter praise God); as it says, ‘By day Yahweh offers his goods (to those below, so the angels have to remain silent) and by night his song (sung to him by the angels) is with me (united with the one sung by me during the day, according to Rashi’s interpretation)’ (Ps 42:9).… And how do we know it (מעון) is called heaven? Because it says, ‘Look down from your holy dwelling מעון from heaven’ (Deut 26:15). — מכון, in which the storage rooms of snow and the storage rooms of hail are, and the balcony of harmful dew and the balcony of the waters (that harm crops, Rashi) and the chambers of the storm wind and the cavern of fog, and their doors are fire; as it says, ‘Yahweh will open his good treasure to you’ (Deut 28:12; it follows from this that with God there are also treasures for punishment, and these are found precisely in the 6th heaven).… And how do we know it (מכון) is called heaven? Because it says, ‘May you hear from heaven in the place מכון of your throne’ (1 Kgs 8:39). — ערבות, in which righteousness, justice and mercy are, the treasures of life and the treasures of peace and the treasures of blessing and the souls of the righteous (who have died) and the spirits and souls that shall one day be created (i.e., embodied; here souls themselves are thought of as preexistent), and the dew with which God will one day bring the dead back to life. Righteousness and justice; for it is written, ‘Righteousness and justice are the foundations of your throne’ (Ps 89:15). Mercy, for it is written, ‘He put on mercy as armor’ (Isa 59:17). The treasures of life; for it is written, ‘For with you is the source of life’ (Ps 36:10). The treasures of peace; for it is written, ‘He called it “Yahweh is peace” ’ (Judg 6:24). And the treasures of blessing; for it is written, ‘He will receive blessing from Yahweh’ (Ps 24:5). The souls of the righteous; for it is written, ‘The soul of my lord will be bound with the bundle of those who live with Yahweh your God’ (1 Sam 25:29). The spirit and the souls that will one day be created; for it is written, ‘The spirit would faint before me and the souls that I have created’ (Isa 57:16). The dew with which God will one day bring the dead to life; for it is written, ‘You showered a rain of gifts, O God, you raised up your inheritance when it was exhausted’ (Ps 68:10). (Rashi: ‘The passage is written about the giving of the law, since their soul went out; as it says, “My soul went out at his word.” ’) There (in the Araboth) are the Ofanim (angels of the wheels) …”; see the continuation at § Matt 25:31 B, #2, a. Then follows: Rab Aha b. Jacob (ca. 325) said, “There is another firmament (so an eighth) above the heads of the holy chayyoth; for it is written, ‘And there was an appearance above the heads of the chayyoth like a firmament that looked like noble crystal’ (Ezek 1:22).” — Parallel passages that mostly give the names of the seven heavens only briefly, though, include ʾAbot R. Nat. 37 (9D); Pesiq. 154B; Lev. Rab. 29 (127C). In the last two passages, there are the introductory words: “All sevens are beloved” (before God); additionally, וילון and מכון are replaced by שמים and שמי שמים. ‖ Midrash Psalm 114 § 2 (236A): R. Eleazar (ca. 270) said, “There are seven (firmaments): וילון, רקיע, שחק, זבול, מעון, מכון, ערבות, and the glory of God is in the Araboth.” R. Halapta b. Jacob (ca. 350?) said in the name of R. Judah b. Simon (ca. 320), “God saw the works of the righteous, and he took pleasure (ערב, which is supposed to interpret the name of the heaven Araboth) in their works.” R. Phineas, the priest, b. Hama (ca. 360) said, “In the firmament whose name is Araboth God sows the works of the righteous, and they bring fruits; as it says, ‘For they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds’ (Isa 3:10).” — The saying of R. Eleazar is also found in Deut. Rab. 2 (199); the names the 7 heavens are שמים, שמי שמים, רקיע, שחקים, מעון, זבול, ערפל. ‖ See Pesiq. Rab. 5 (18B) at § Rom 3:25 A, 4, n. a; according to this passage, R. Simeon b. Yohai (ca. 150) would also have assumed there were seven heavens. But according to the parallel Pesiq. Rab. 17B, which is not cited there, we should instead read R. Simeon b. Yosena (ca. 270?). ‖ Seven heavens are also mentioned in b. Roš Haš. 32A; b. Menaḥ. 39A; Exod. Rab. 15 (78D); Pesiq. 7B; Pirqe R. El. 18; Midr. Ps. 92 § 2 (201B); Tanḥ. תרומה 101B. — Among the pseudepigrapha, T. Levi 2f. and Apoc. Mos. 35 are aware of seven heavens.

 

d. 2 Enoch 22: “In the tenth heaven Araboth, I (Enoch) saw the face of the countenance of the Lord.”

 

e. 3 Baruch 11: “The angel took me (Baruch) from this one (the 4th heaven) and brought me to a fifth heaven.” — A sixth and seventh heaven are not mentioned; yet in Kautzsch (II, p. 450, n. a), Ryssel remarks, “It should be assumed and is confirmed by the citation in Origen that this passage too originally … spoke of seven heavens.” — The citation in question from Origen (Princ. 2.3.6) reads: Denique etiam Baruch prophetae librum in assertionis huius testimonium vocant, quod ibi de septem mundis vel caelis evidentius indicatur.