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553 THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

553

the " haters " (" soneim") to enter the house deserted by its inmate. The difference between this Midrash and the Apocalypse in regard to the utterance of the angel is to be explained by the variant of a single word. The Midrash has JVD^, while the Apocalypse reads D^Nil. The sacred objects which the earth swallowed, mentioned in vi. 7, are correctly given in " Holy Ark " should be subrabbinical literature. stituted for "holy ephod "— K>Tipn is the later Hebraic term (compare, for instance, II Chron. xxxv. 3; Ket.l04a) because fnK also signifies "coffin." In fact, it is probable that originally only those articles were mentioned in this passage of the Apocalypse which were missing in the Second Temple (Yoma 21 J), and for whose disappearance (Shek. vi. 1) an explanation had to be given, but compare also the later

pN

—

Midrash

Masseket Kelim, " in Jellinek's "B. H. ii.," numerous sacred objects hidden in the earth. Zeb. 886 affords an explanation of the forty-eight gems. These are to be taken as the thirtysix bells bordering the hem of the priestly robe (" me'il ") and the twelve stones in the breastplate of the high priest; and an explanation of x. 2 is provided by the Haggadah in which Jeremiah accompanies the exiles a part of the way to Babylon, but then returns (Pesik R. 26 [ed. Friedmann, 1316]

which

"

treats of the

Introduction to Lam. R. xxxiv.). comparison of x. 9-16 with the last Mishnah of Sotah; B. B. 606; Tosef., Sotah, xiv. 11, shows that the Apocalypse alludes to facts. What is given as a poetic fancy in x. 18 is treated in rabbinical literature as an actual occurrence; e.g., in Ta'anit 29a Lev. R. xix. 6; Pesik. R. I.e. Ab. R. N. p.] iv. pi.], vii. In the last passage an eye-witness of the catastrophe of the year 70 testifies that certain noble young priests threw the keys of the Temple toward heaven and exclaimed: " Here are Thy keys We have been found untrustworthy guardians of Thy house. " Likewise, a clear understanding of the following verse (x. 19) can be obtained only by a comparison of it with Pesik. R. I.e. The virgins who " weave linen and silk threads with gold from Ophir,

A



!

and who are bidden now

to cast their work into the flames," are the women who made the hangings (" paroket ") for the Temple (Ket. 106a), and who are mentioned, for this reason, along with the priests. The promise that Baruch should not die (xiii. 3) and

his translation to paradise in his mortal body (in chap, xxv.) are suggested by the combination of Sifre,

Num.

99 and Derek Ere? Zutta

i.

The vast

given in lxiii. 6, 7, accords with the description in Sanh. 956; and the miracle of the burning of their bodies while their garments remained unconsumed (lxiii. 8) is given in Sanh. 94«. The list of the wicked deeds of Manasseh, set forth in lxiv. 2-4, agrees with the catalogue Likewise, the legend of of his sins in Sanh. 1036. the brazen horse, given in lxiv. 8, occurs in as early a work as the Pesikta de-Rab Kahana (xxv. 162), from which it was borrowed by various Midrashim. The sorrow of the angels over Zion and Israel (lxvii. instance, 2) is a favorite theme of the Midrash for The pasin Pesik. R. 28 [ed. Friedmann, 134a]. size of Sennacherib's host,



sage in the Apocalypse (lxxvii. 25) in which the messenger-bird of Solomon is mentioned should be compared with Eccl. R. to ii. 25.

Baruoh, Apocalypse of

The Apocalypse,

it is

important to note, has also

many

points of agreement with the Pharisaic doctrines, especially in regard to sin and the Law. It assumes that the world was created for Israel's sake; that is, for those Israelites who fulfil Theolog- the Law; and Baruch even thought ical Stand- that with the extinction of the Jewish point. state the world would end (iii. 7, xiv. 18, xv. 7, xxi. 24; Tan., ed. Buber, Bereshit v. Pesik. R. 28 [ed. Friedmann, 1356] a full discussion by Ginzberg, "Haggada bei den



Kirchenvatern," pp. 8-10). The views of the Apocalypse on the relations of sin and death, of the first man and his descendants, seem to be contradictory and for this reason some scholars consider the Apocalypse to be the work of more than one author. But a consideration of the rabbinical theories will throw light upon these apparent inconsistencies. The fall of the first human pair brought death upon them, though it had not been intended that they, being the creatures of God's own hands, should be mortal (Eccl. R. iii. 14). Their descendants, though they may have no direct claim upon immortality, may nevertheless gain it if they are wholly free from sin (Tan., ed. Buber, Emor, and the passages given there by Buber). But the primal sin produced such conditions that it is almost impossible for the very noblest of

Adam,

men

to

win immortality.

responsible for the death of the pious on account of the trivial offenses (" 'aberot kallot ") which are caused by the present state of The pious would not have had to suffer things. death if Adam had not brought it into the world and the only way to avoid death, when its dominion is once established, is to lead an absolutely blameless uk kat, xxxix. compare Ablife (Tan., ed. Buber, baham, Testament op, in which the same views are The same idea occurs in the Apocaexpressed). lypse in xviii. 2, xix. 8, xxiii. 4, liv. 15, lvi. 6. The following ideas are common to the Apocalypse and the Rabbis In consequence of the corruptibility of then,

is

H





the world since the fall of Adam, the soul of man " come not voluntarily into hesitates to enter it. the world, and we depart not of our own will " (xiv. 11, xlviii. 15; Ab. iv., end; Tan., Pekude, ii. [ed. certain number of souls must be Vienna, 1276]).

We

A

born before the advent of the Messiah can occur Yeb. 62a). The souls of the pious are (xxiii. 4, 5 kept in a storehouse ("ozar," xxx. 2; Sifre, Num. Shab. 139 Ab. R. N. xii. [ed. Schechter, p. 50] The departed, though they are susceptible 1526). of pain and pleasure, live in a world of their own, and know nothing of the events on earth (xi. 5, 6





Ber. 186).

It

is,

this passage (xi.

therefore, erroneous to stigmatize as Sadducean, as some critics

5, 6)

have done. The same inconsistency has been ascribed to the eschatological views of the Apocalypse as to its theIn reality they combine standpoints which ological. contradict one another because derived from divergent sources, but such contradiction is found in many works. In the very beginning of the Apocalypse (iv. 2-7) mention is made of the heavenly Temple which will appear in the future time, and shortly after (vi. 7-9) it is said that the sacred objects of the Temple, swallowed by the earth, will