Righteous Priest

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Jonney2000 (talk | contribs) at 06:24, 9 November 2014 (→‎Ecstatic Kabbalah: cleanup). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

In Rabbinic Jewish eschatology, the Righteous Priest is a figure identified with one the Four Craftsmen in a vision in the Book of Zechariah. He is found in the Talmud and Midrash.

B. Sukkot 52b

According to Simeon Hasida Zechariah's Four Craftsmen are Messiah ben David, Messiah ben Joseph, Elijah and the Righteous Priest. In the oldest full manuscript of the Talmud dating from 1342, known as the Munich Talmud,[1] the Righteous Priest is referred to as Melchizedek.[2]: 85  Rashi in his commentary on the Talmud explains that the Shem/Melchizedek is called a craftsman because he helped his father build the ark and taught Abraham.[3] In 1280, following the Disputation of Barcelona, the Roman Catholic Church forced Jews to censor parts of the Talmud that were theologically problematic.[4] The Talmud would be censored again in 1564 following the invention of the printing press. Numerous times between 1239 and 1775 all copies of the Talmud were ordered destroyed. Few copies would survive.[5]

Shem

According to Avot of Rabbi Natan on Gen. i 27 Adam was born circumcised as he was created in the image of God.[6] While they were in Egypt and the children of Israel where not circumcised as they wished to follow the customs of the Egyptians Exod Rabbah 1.[7] The Israelites lived in Egypt for 210 years.[8] According to Midrash Rabbah LVII. 4 when they were in Egypt Satan denounced Israel. Generally this is interpreted as happening after Joseph died and being due to the stopping of the practicing of circumcision.[9] However the priestly tribe of Levi practiced circumcised in Egypt Exod Rabbah 19. Entry into the land of Israel required circumcision of all the tribes. Gen. Rabbah 46.[7]

In addition Shem like Noah the second Adam was also born circumcised. Although Shem is unanimously declared by the Rabbis to have been the youngest son of Noah, yet he is always named first, being the most important of the three brothers. He was the ancestor of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; he was priest and prophet; and he was one of the eight righteous who are mentioned twice in Gen. xi. 10 and who were allotted a portion both in this world and in the world to come (Sanh. 69b; Tan., Yelammedenu, Noaḥ; Midr. ha-Gadol on Gen. ix. 18, xi. 10, ed. Schechter, cols. 142, 186). Shem is styled "the' great one" ("Shem rabba"; Sanh. 108b). According to Gen. R. xxx. 6, it was Shem who offered the sacrifices on the altar after Noah came out of the ark (comp. Gen. viii. 20), as the latter, having been crippled by the lion, was unfit for the priestly office. Noah gave to Shem the priestly garments which he had inherited from Adam (Num. R. iv. 6). Shem is extolled by the Rabbis for his filial devotion in covering his father's nakedness (Gen. ix. 23). Although his brother Japheth assisted in this praiseworthy act, it was Shem who suggested and began it, his brother not arriving on the scene until Shem was already on his way with the garment. Noah, in blessing these two sons (Gen. ix. 26) declared that “blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem” Giving special significance to Shem. As Shem would be the forefather of the Jewish people.[10]

Melchizedek as Shem

Melchizedek occupied an important place in ancient Judaism. In one of the Dead Sea scrolls 11Q13 he is presented as a semi divine being. Josephus referred to Melchizedek as the first priest and as a Canaanite chief. Many scholars now believe that Israelite beliefs were an evolution of Canaanite beliefs. In Samaritan tradition Melchizedek's city was near the temple on Mount Gerizim. Josephus on the other hand followed the Jewish tradition and linked Salem with Jerusalem and Mount Zion.[11]

Melchizedek's name translates as righteous king. He also had priestly duties. Based on biblical life spans Shem would have still been alive during Abraham's life time. The identification of Shem as Melchizedek is found in the Talmud, Targumim and Midrashim.[11]

Many Christian sources have suggested that Shem was associated with Melchizedek for anti-Christian reasons. However, Shem was probably already associated with priesthood if not Melchizedek in pre rabbinic times. Various Targums Targum Neofiti, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Targum Fragment P, Targum Fragment V all identify Shem as Melchizedek. The Book of Jubilees also suggests that Shem was linked with priesthood. Similarly Philo’s writings exalt Shem. None of these documents express antichristian polemics.[12][13]

How early Shem was associated with Melchizedek is a matter of debate.[14][15] By the fourth century the identification of Shem with Melchizedek was well established. Nor was it limited to Jewish sources Ephrem the Syrian likewise identifies Melchizedek as Shem.[16]

Early sources in chronological order

  • The poly-messianic Testimonia text 4Q175 presents a prophet similar to Moses, a messianic figure and a priestly teacher. It is dated to the early 1st century BCE.[2]: 89 
  • 1QS lists a Messiah of Israel, a prophet and a priestly Messiah of Aaron.[17] 1QS dates from around 100 BCE.[18]
  • Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 52b presents the Four Craftsmen. Each may have a role to play in the ushering in the messianic age they are listed as Elijah, Messiah ben David, Righteous Priest and Messiah ben Joseph.[2]: 84 [3]
  • Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 5.9 here the four craftsmen are listed as Elijah, the King Messiah, Melchizedek and the Anointed for War.[2]: 86 
  • Avot of Rabbi Natan states that Messiah ben David is more beloved then the Priest of Righteousness it cites Psalm 110 linking the Priest of Righteousness with Melchizedek.[19]
  • Song of Songs Rabbah also lists the four craftsmen. Here they are listed as Elijah, the King Messiah, Melchizedek and the Anointed for War.[2]: 86 [19]
  • Pesikta Rabbati 15.14/15 likewise the four craftsmen are listed as Elijah, the King Messiah, Melchizedek and the Anointed for War.[2]: 86 
  • In Tanna Devei Eliyahu the four craftsmen are listed the same as in the Talmud as Elijah, Messiah ben David, Righteous Priest and Messiah ben Joseph.[2]: 86 
  • Rashi referred to the Righteous Priest as Shem/Melchizedek in his commentary on the Talmud.[3]
  • Numbers Rabbah 14.1 here the Righteous Priest has been replaced. The four craftsmen are listed as Elijah, Redeemer from David, War Messiah from Ephraim, Messiah from Manasseh.[2]: 86 
  • Yalkut Shimoni 569 lists the four craftsmen as Elijah, Messiah ben David, Righteous Priest and Messiah ben Joseph.[2]: 86 
  • Melchizedek takes the place of the Righteous Priest in the Munich Talmud.[2]: 85  The oldest full manuscript of the Talmud dating from 1342.[1]

later writings

In Judaism Shem and Melchizedek are one and the same. Shem plays an important role throughout Jewish literature beyond the role of the Righteous Priest. He is especially prominent in Kabbalah.[20]

Kabbalah

See also: Jewish mysticism for a timeline

Ecstatic Kabbalah

Abraham Abulafia was the founder of Ecstatic Kabbalah. He seems to have identified Jesus as the Messiah ben Joseph referring to him as “the sixth day” and as Satan.[21]: 123 [22]: 208 [23] Abulafia linked Jesus with the month of Tammuz, the month of the sin of the golden calf.[21]: 123 [22]: 206  Abulafia referred to himself as “the seventh day” and the true Messiah ben David. He claimed to be both the Messiah ben David and a Kohen like Melchizedek. He supported this by claiming that his father was of Judah), his mother of [Tribe of Levi|Levi]] and his wife of the Kohen.[21]: 94–96  He also identified himself as the priestly angle Metatron.[22]: 208 

He set out on a messianic mission to Rome to convert the Pope to Judaism. The Pope ordered him burned at the stake. However the day before he entered Rome, the Pope died of an apoplectic stroke. Abulafia claimed to have killed the Pope by invoking the name of God.[21]: 94–96, 371, 59–61, 82–83, 97–98 

In one of his later works Abulafia claimed to have been driven mad by Satan but that God had protected him. He claimed that Elijah brought him to Messina where he completed the Otzar Eden HaGanuz. He wrote that but for accidents and fantasies his seven disciples would not have been driven away from him. He hoped that one in particular Rabbi Saadia ben Yitzchak Sanalmapi who he dedicated the work to would forgive him.[24]

Abulafia’s writings were condemned by his local Jewish congregation and were not used in Spanish schools. His meditation techniques would influence many later writings and are still studied today. Later writers would marginalize Abulafia's messianic elements.[21]: 361  In Ecstatic Kabbalah Metatron is a messianic figure.[25] This tradition predates Abulafia going back to the Book of Parables and 3 Enoch and other writings.[21]: 46, 48, 72, 86, 88  The earlier Merkabah mysticism also references Metatron.[26]

Lurianic Kabbalah

In Lurianic Kabbalah Adam incorporated all souls; it is possible for different soul-sections to be given to different people.[27] In addition multiple people can share the same soul root.[28] In the Kabbalistic understanding, the Righteous Priest would be reincarnated as Abel, Seth, Noah and Shem.[27][29] Moses like Adam also incorporated all souls.[27] Messiah ben Joseph was incarnated as Cain he was notably reincarnated as Joseph (son of Jacob) and Jeroboam. Messiah ben David was incarnated as Abel and David.[30]: 197 

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Adele Berlin (2011). The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion. Oxford University Press. p. 609. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Alan J. Avery-Peck, ed. (2005). The Review of Rabbinic Judaism: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  3. ^ a b c Joel Lurie Grishaver (2007). Talmud with Training Wheels: Meet the Evil Urge: Sukkah 51b-53b. Torah Aura Productions. p. 43. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  4. ^ Encyclopedia Judaica - Barcelona, Disputation of. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA. 2007. p. 146. Retrieved 19 February 2014. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |editors= ignored (|editor= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Encyclopedia of Censorship. Infobase Publishing. 2009. p. 110. Retrieved 13 February 2014. {{cite book}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |authors= (help)
  6. ^ Contesting Conversion: Genealogy, Circumcision, and Identity in Ancient Judaism and Christianity. Oxford University Press. 2011. p. 74. Retrieved 10 September 2014. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |Author= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ a b The Biblical and Historical Background of Jewish Customs and Ceremonies. KTAV Publishing House, Inc. 1980. p. 8. Retrieved 10 September 2014. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |Author= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "How many years did the Jews spend in Egypt?". Retrieved 10 September 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |Author= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ Midrash Rabbah. The Soncino Press. 1939. p. 506. Retrieved 10 September 2014. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |Author= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ Onkelos on the Torah: Be-reshit. Gefen Publishing House Ltd. 2006. p. 53. Retrieved 13 February 2014. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |editors= ignored (|editor= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ a b Biblical Figures Outside the Bible. Continuum. 2002. pp. 182–185. Retrieved 13 February 2014. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |editors= ignored (|editor= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ Robert Hayward (2010). Targums and the Transmission of Scripture Into Judaism and Christianity. BRILL. pp. 6–16. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  13. ^ Targumic and Cognate Studies: Essays in Honour of Martin McNamara. Continuum. 1996. pp. 72–80. Retrieved 15 February 2014. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |editors= ignored (|editor= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ The Book of Genesis in Late Antiquity: Encounters between Jewish and Christian Exegesis. BRILL. 2013. pp. 200–205. Retrieved 15 February 2014. {{cite book}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |authors= (help)
  15. ^ Joseph A. Fitzmyer (2004). The Genesis Apocryphon of Qumran Cave 1 (1Q20): A Commentary. Gregorian Biblical BookShop. p. 45. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  16. ^ Catholic for a Reason: Scripture and the Mystery of the Family of God. Emmaus Road Publishing. 1998. p. 223. Retrieved 13 February 2014. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |editors= ignored (|editor= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ Flores Florentino: Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Early Jewish Studies in Honour of Florentino García Martínez. BRILL. 2007. p. 212. Retrieved 26 February 2014. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |editors= ignored (|editor= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ James H. Charlesworth (1994). The Dead Sea Scrolls, Volume 1. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 53. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  19. ^ a b Raʻanan S. Boustan (2005). From Martyr to Mystic: Rabbinic Martyrology and the Making of Merkavah Mysticism. Mohr Siebeck. p. 138. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  20. ^ Jonathan Dauber (2012). Knowledge of God and the Development of Early Kabbalah. BRILL. p. 158. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  21. ^ a b c d e f Moshe Idel (2000). Messianic Mystics. Yale University Press. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  22. ^ a b c Robert Sagerman (2011). The Serpent Kills Or the Serpent Gives Life: The Kabbalist Abraham Abulafia’s Response to Christianity. BRILL. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  23. ^ Robert Sagerman (2008). Ambivalence Toward Christianity in the Kabbalah of Abraham Abulafia. ProQuest. p. 283. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  24. ^ Aryeh Kaplan (1995). Meditation and Kabbalah. Jason Aronson, Incorporated. pp. 67–68. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  25. ^ P. Koslowski, ed. (2002). Progress, Apocalypse, and Completion of History and Life after Death of the Human Person in the World Religions. Springer. p. 58. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  26. ^ Nathaniel Deutsch (1999). Guardians of the Gate: Angelic Vice-regency in the Late Antiquity. BRILL. p. 34. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  27. ^ a b c "Moses our Teacher: Gate of Reincarnations: Gate of Reincarnations: Chapter Thirty-four, Section 1". Retrieved 21 February 2014. {{cite web}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |authors= (help)
  28. ^ "Soul Splits: Gate of Reincarnations - Chapter Fourteen". Retrieved 21 February 2014. {{cite web}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |authors= (help)
  29. ^ "Abel's Nefesh, Ruach, and Neshama: Gate of Reincarnations: Chapter Twenty-Nine, Section 2b". Retrieved 20 February 2014. {{cite web}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |authors= (help)
  30. ^ Arthur Green (1979). Tormented Master: A Life of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav. University of Alabama Press. Retrieved 20 February 2014.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help) This article is an evolution of the corresponding article which gives no Bibliography:

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Righteous_Priest&oldid=633058922"