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.

741/752 (page 683)

$particularly adapted to throw light upon various points in the Antichrist legend. All four apoca- lypses contain the legend of Messiah b. Joseph in common. They state that he will gather Israelites around him (among whom in “The Wars of King Messiah” and “Prayer of R. Simon b. Legend of Yohai ” a part of the Ten Tribes will Messiah be found), march up to Jerusalem and b. Joseph, there, after overcoming the hostile powers (in the “ Apocalypse of Zerub- babel ” the king of Persia is the hostile power; in “The Wars of King Messiah” and “Prayer of R. Simon b. Yohai,” the Roman empire; in the “Reve lations of R. Simon b. Yohai,” there is no definite statement on this point), reintroduce the worship of the Temple, and establish his own dominion. This, however, will be of short duration; for Armilus, with the heathen, will appear before .Terusalem to battle against him and will slay him. Then the time of the last extreme siiffering and persecution for Israel will begin, from which escape will be sought bj' flight into the wilderness. There Messiah b. David and the prophet Elijah will appear to them (in the “Revelations of R. Simon b. Yohai” the latter is not mentioned), and lead them up to Jerusalem, where the Messiah will destroy Armilus and all the armies of the heathen. In the “ Apocalypse of Zerubbabel, ” as well as in “The Wars of King Messiah,” the Mes- siah b. David, in company with Elijah, will resurrect Messiah b. Joseph, who lies slain at the gates of Jerusalem. Another point common to the “Apocalypse of Zerubbabel” and the “Revelations of R. Simon b. Yohai” is, that on his advent the Israelites will not acknowledge Messiah b. David. The one point mentioned which only the “Apocalypse of Zerub- babel ” contains is that besides the two Messiahs there is to be a woman, Hephzibah, the mother of Messiah b. David. According to the text in Jel- linek's edition, she will come upon the scene five years before Messiah b. Joseph; and a great star will light up her path. She will slay two kings, and assist Messiah b. Joseph in his war against the king of Persia; and during the flight into the wilderness she will shelter Israel from the persecution of Ar milus. This last feature of the description calls to mind the flight of the woman, as described in the Revelation of John, xii. 13-17, and the description of Tabitha in the Coptic “ Apocalypse of Elijah.” The picture of the future world in the Zerubbabel apoca- lypse is also distinctive; for in addition to the estab- lishment of the heavenly Jerusalem Tipon five moun- tains (Lebanon, Moriah, Tabor, Carmel, and Hermon), nothing more is mentioned than the resurrection of the generation buried in the wilderness, and of the faithful who met death during the general persecu tion(“the ocean,” which is spoken of in this connec- tion, must be understood in its symbolical significa- tion; as it is used as early as Dan. vii. 3 et seq.). 9. The Wars of King Messiah (i^o n'L’TD), (called also 'n IDD “The Book of the Wars of YHWH,” and [nS'na IC'N] niniN' n'tf’DH “ Occurrences at the Time of the Advent of Messiah,” and, finally, “The Wars of Gog and Ma- gog, of Messiah b. Joseph, Messiah b. David, and Elijah the Prophet”): This apocalypse must have had a very wide circulation, as evidenced by the many manuscripts in wdiicli it is preserved. It is contained in a Parisian manuscript (Codex Hebr. 716); in oneinLeipsic (Codex Hebr. 12), and another at Halberstamm, and in three manuscripts at the Bodleian Library (see Neubauer, “Catalogue,” Nos. 1466, 15; 2274, 6; 2360, 9. The first of these is complete; in the second the introduction and conclu- sion are missing; the third seems to be only a frag- ment)—in a Munich manuscript (Codex Hebr. 312; the introduction and conclusion are also omitted in this); and it was also included in the “ Mahzor Vitry,” in which, however, as some pages in the manuscript are missing, only the first and last parts are preserved. This work was printed in the Con- stantinople collection mentioned above, in 1519, and also in “ Abkat Rokel ” (Pedler’s Spice- Its Wide Box) by Jacob IMachir. From the lat- Circulation. ter, Jellinek reprinted it in “B. H.” ii. 58-63, omitting, however, the intro- duction and the conclusion, which he added in vol. vi. 117-120. The Munich manuscript was found bj' the present writer, who collated it with the text in “Abkat Rokel,” and with Jellinek, to contain a num- ber of better readings and variants than the latter. The following may be added to what has been re- lated above as explanatorj' of the contents of this book: A parenetic discourse forms the introduction; after which the unusual phenomena that will usher in the end—unnatural and pestilence-producing heat, poisonous dew, and an eclipse of tlie sun lasting thirty days—are depicted. The Roman “ kingdom ” will spread its dominion over the whole world, and will persecute Israel most cinielly for the space of nine months, at the end of which time Dlessiah b. Joseph will appear. From here on, the description continues as outlined above. After lilessiah b. David shall have destroyed Armilus and the heathen armies, together with the “wicked” Rome, then the dead will arise, and the Israelites, dispensed overall lands, will be gathered into Jerusalem. The heathen will convey them thither, and will offer homage to Israel; also, the Ten Tribes, together with the descendants of Moses, will return, enveloped in clouds, from the regions of Chaboras and Halach and from Media; and as they march, the earth will be transformed before them into a paradise. Tlie conclusion con- tains the description of the glorious new Jerusalem and of the other blessings of the future world, which are here of a more spiritual character. According to the various editions, it is said of Armilus, that “the nations call him Antichrist.” But the Munich manuscript reads here, “He is called Gog and Ma- gog”; and for “palace of .luliau,” it reads “palace of Hadrian,” 10. The Revelations of R. Simon b. Yoljai ('nr p IPDK' 1 nrinoj) ; Tins apocalypse was printed at Salonica in 1743, in the collection already mentioned, and was reprinted from it by Jellinek in “B. H.” iii. 78 et seq. It is pre.served also in the Munich manuscript (Codex Hebr. 222), which con- tains better readings in some places. The apoc- alypse really ends with “Thy people shall all be righteous,” 81, 13 in Jellinek; what follows, as Graetz already recognized (“Gesch. der Juden,” v. 446), was added later, probably from the “Prayer of R. Simon b. Yohai.” As Graetz shows {ih.), this apocalypse was written during the stormy period of the deposition of the Ommiads (750). Written It describes plainly the wars of Mer- About 750. wan IL, who is mentioned bj’ name, his flight after the battle on the bank of the Great Zab, his capture, and his assassination. The revelations about the end are made by Metatron to R. Simon b. Yohai, while the latter is dwelling in a cave, hiding from the Roman emperor. The history of Islam is reviewed from the appearance of the prophet up to the events just mentioned. From this point on, the real propheej^of the future begins. It opens with the prediction that after Merwan’s$