Volume 1

The Jewish encyclopedia : a descriptive record of the history, religion, literature, and customs of the Jewish people from the earliest times to the present day / prepared ... under the direction of ... Cyrus Adler [and others] Isidore Singer ... managing editor.

Date:: 1901-1906

Credit: The Jewish encyclopedia : a descriptive record of the history, religion, literature, and customs of the Jewish people from the earliest times to the present day / prepared ... under the direction of ... Cyrus Adler [and others] Isidore Singer ... managing editor. Source: Wellcome Collection.

728/752 (page 670)

$in “ the visions of his head ” is shown the future. This is the case in Dan. vii. 1 et seq.; II Esd. iii. 1-3; and in the Slavonic Book of Enoch, i. 2 et seq. As to the description of the effect of the vision upon the seer, see Dan. viii. 27; Enoch, lx. 3; II Esd. v. 14. 3. The introduction of Angels as the hearers of the revelation is also a standing feature. The Most High does not speak in person (contrast the early Hebrew narratives, the visions in Amos, vii.-ix. etc.), but gives His instruction through the medium of His heavenly messengers, who act as the seer’s guides or interpreters, bringing the mysteries of the unseen world before his eyes, explaining to him what he sees, answering his questions, and disclosing to him the future. There is hardly an example of a true Apocalypse in which the instrumentality of angels in giving the message is not made prominent. In the Assumption of Moses, which consists mainly of a detailed prediction of the course of Israelite and Jewish history, the announcement is given to Joshua by Closes, just before the death of the latter. So, too, in the Sibylline Oracles, which are for the most part a mere foretelling of future events, the Sibyl is the only speaker. But neither of these books can be called truly representative of apocalyptic litera- ture in the narrower sense (see below). lu another writing which has sometimes been classed as apoca- lyptic, the Book of Jubilees, an angel is indeed the mediator of the revelation, but the vision or dream element is wanting. In this case, however, the book is not at all apocalyptie in its nature. 4. In the typical compositions of this class the chief concern of the writer is with the Future. The Apocalypse is primarily a Prophecy usually with a distinctly religious aim, intended to show God’s way of dealing with men, and His ultimate purposes. The writer presents, sometimes very vividly, a pic- ture of coming events, especially those connected with the end of the present age. Thus, in certain of these writings the subject-matter is vaguely de- scribed as “ that which shall come to pass in the latter days ” (Dan. ii. 28; compare ver.se 29); similarly Dan. X. 14, “ to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days”; compare Enoch, i. 1, 2; X. 2 et seq. So, too, in Rev. i. 1 (compare Dan. ii. 28 eZ se?., LXX.), “Revelation, . . . that which must shortly come to pass. ” Past history is often included in the vision, but usually only iu order to give force and the proper historical setting to the prediction, as the panorama of successive events passes over imper- ceptibly from the known to the unknown. Thus, in the eleventh chapter of Daniel, the detailed history of the Greek empire in the East, from the conquest of Alexander down to the latter part of the reign of An- tiochus Epiphanes (verses 3-39, all presented in the form of a prediction), is continued, without any break, in a scarcely less vivid description (verses 40-45) of events which had not yet taken place, but were only expected by the writer (see next page, § III.); viz., the wars which should result in the death of Autiochus and the fall of his kingdom. All this, however, serves only as the introduction to the remarkable eschato- logical predictions in the twelfth chapter, iu which the main purpose of the book is to be found. Sim- ilarly, in the dream recounted in II Esd. xi. and xii., the eagle, representing the Roman empire, is followed by the lion, which is the promised Messiah, who is to deliver the chosen people and establish an everlast- ing kingdom. The transition from history to pre- diction is seen in xii. 28, where the expected end of Domitian’s reign—and with it the end of the world —is foretold. Still another example of the .same kind is Sibyllines, iii. 608-623. Compare perhaps also As- sumptio Mosis, vii.-ix. In nearly all the writings which are properly classed as apocalyptic the escha- tological element is prominent. In fact, it was the growth of speculation regarding the age to come and the hope for the chosen people (see next page, HI.) which more than anything else occasioned the rise and influenced the development of this sort of literature. 5. Still another characteristic of the Apocalypse is found in certain literary properties which are always present to some extent, and usually are quite prom- inent. The element of the mysterious, apparent in both the matter and the manner of the writing, is a marked feature in every typical Apocalypse. The literature of visions and dreams has its own tradi- tions, which are remarkably persistent; and this fact is unusually well illustrated in the group of Jewish (or Jewish-Christlan) writings under consideration. This apocalyptic quality appears most plainly («) iu the use of fantastic imagery. The best illustration is furnished by the strange living creatures which figure in .so many of the visions—“beasts ” in which the properties of men, animals, birds, reptiles, or purely imaginary beings are combined iu a way that is startling and often grotesciue. How characteristic a feature this is may be seen from the following list of the most noteworthy passages in wdiich such crea- tures are introduced; Dan. vii. 1-8, viii. 3-12 (both passages of the greatest importance for the history of apocalyptic literature); Enoch, Ixxxv.-xc.; Slavonic Enoch, xii., xv. 1, xix. 6, xlii. 1, etc.; II Esd. xi. 1-xii. 3, 11-32; Greek Apoc. of Bar. ii., iii.; Hebrew Testament, Naphtali’s, iii.; Rev. iv. 6 et seq. (com- pare Apoc. of Bar. [Syr.] li. 11), ix. 7-10, 17-19, xiii. 1-18, xvii. 3, 12; Hennas, “Vision,” iv. 1. Certain mythical or semimythical beings which appear in the Old Testament are also made to play a part of increasing importance in these books. Thus “ Levi- athan ” and “IBehemoth ” (Enoch, lx. 7, 8; II Esd. vi. 49-52; Apoc. of Bar. xxix. 4); “Gog and Magog” (Sibyllines, iii. 319 et seq., 512 et scq.\ compare Enoch, Ivi. 5 et seq.\ Rev. xx. 8). As might be ex- jiected, foreign mythologies are also occasionally laid under contribution (see below). The apocalyptic quality is seen again (5) in the frequent use of a mystifying symbolism. This is most strikingly illustrated in the well-known cases where gemati'ia is employed for the sake of obscur- ing the writer’s meaning; thus, the mysterious nanie“Taxo,” AssumptioMo.sis, ix. 1; the “number of the beast,” 666, Rev. xiii. 18; the number 888 (’L/coif), Sibyllines, i. 326-330. Very similar to this is the frequent enigmatic prophecy of the length of time which must elapse before the events predicted come to pass; thus, the “time, times, and a half,” Dan. xii. 7; the “fifty-eight times” of Enoch, xc. 5, Assumptio Mosis, x. 11; the announcement of a cer- tain number of “ weeks ” or days (without specifying the starting-point), Dan. ix. 24 et seq., xii. 11, 12; Enoch xciii. 3-10; II Esd. xiv. 11, 12; Apoc. of Bar. xxvi.-xxviii.; Rev. xi. 3, xii. 6; compare Assumptio Mosis, vii. 1. The same tendency is seen also iu the employment of symbolical language in speaking of certain persons, things, or events; thus, the “horns” of Dan. vii., viii.; Rev. xvii. et seq.; the “ heads ” and “ wings ” of II Esd. xi. et seq.; the seven seals. Rev. vi.; trumpets, viii.; bowls, xvi.; the dragon. Rev. xii. 3-17, XX. 1-3; the eagle, Assumptio Mosis, x. 8; and so on. As typical examples of more elaborate alle- gories—aside from those in Dan. vii., viii., II Esd. xi., xii., already referred to—maybe mentioned; the vision of the bulls and the sheep, Enoch, Ixxxv. et seq.; the forest, the vine, the fountain, and the cedar, Apoc. of Bar. xxxvi. et seq.; the bright and the black waters, ihid. liii. et seq.; the willow and its branches, Hermas, “ Similitudines,” viii.$