The Prophecy of Ezekiel
Radak on Genesis 1:26 with Ezekiel 32
ויאמר אלוקים נעשה אדם http://www.sefaria.org/Radak_on_Genesis.1.26?lang=en&layout=lines&sidebarLang=all 1 ויאמר אלוקים נעשה אדם, in connection with all the other matter created in the “lower” regions of the universe, G’d issued a directive to earth phrasing it in the third person, i.e. indirect mode such as תדשא הארץ, “let earth produce herbs,”(verse 11) or ישרצו המים, “let the waters teem, etc.” (verse 24). When it came to creating the human being, the last of the creatures composed of several elements, He said נעשה אדם in the first person. Man was created last, as a sign that he is the crown jewel of creation, to make clear that all the creatures who preceded him in the order in which they were created are to serve as making life more pleasant and convenient for him. He is to be master of them all. Mahx note: How is it seen? How is it seen? In this; “And Hashem Elohim commanded the Adam, saying, of all the trees of the garden you may surely eat!” The trees of the garden were representative of the elements of all the preceding works of the six days. Adam was commanded to partake of them in good faith and gratitude, as they were brought into the work of creating his/their constitution. How are they brought into this? Through the first word of creation/beresheet. For the declarative of “beresheet” is the imperative implicit that causes Adam with all the heavens and the earth to come to exist and be sustained in existence out of non-existence, that is, out of nothing but the word of G-d, which is to say the will of G-d expressed in his will, which is to say nothing but the grace of his love exercising rule over what was not so as to cause it to be and come ultimately to shine with thankfulness, acknowledging his rulership and the rulership of his word. All the elements of heaven and earth, therefore, have within them the latent radiance of the brilliant light of thankfulness in the acknowledgement of the kingship of Hashem Elohim, and the choirmaster of this latent acknowledgement of the kingship of Hashem, the leading singer, was purposed and designed to be Adam, having the constitutional elements within him/them of the whole choir of heaven and earth. Thus his/their food would be... Thus his/their food would be the fruit of the trees Garden of Eden, planted and grown for him/them unto this end. For the trees of this garden were those that contained the sublime manifestation of the light which was brought forth on the first day, as the essence of the first day, by the imperative of Hashem Elohim, the imperative by which he subjected his own word to the workings of the order of, the את of, the heavens and the earth, to reveal his kindness and grace, according to the love by which he created and rules all things, to conceal his word within creation, just as he reveals his word in bringing creation forth. And this is the concealed light of the word of G-d, then, which is concealed in all elements of heaven and earth, in all the seven days, which was contained in the fruit of the trees of the garden and reflected literally in the commandment given to Adam to eat of them in good faith and thankfulness, whereby he/they would have been filled with the light of eternal thankfulness in acknowledgement of the kingship of Hashem Elohim eternally. End note. When the Torah wrote נעשה When the Torah wrote נעשה in the first person plural mode, my father explained this as including the various elements all of which had also been the product of G’d’s creative activity which had aimed at ultimately creating man. G’d implied that in creating man He would make use of all the ingredients in the universe that He had already created. They were all His partners in that respect, supplying parts of the raw material G’d used to make man. We may understand the entire line as if G’d had said to all these raw materials: “let us, you and Me together, construct a human being.” We find that our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 8:3 took a similar approach when they said that G’d consulted when creating heaven and earth. Rashi explains that the plural in the word נעשה is accounted for by the fact that G’d consulted with the angels. They could be included in the “we,” seeing that both G’d and the angels share the fact that they are disembodied intelligences. G’d meant to imply that man would share an attribute with Himself and the angels, namely an intelligence which was not dependent on the body. Bereshit Rabbah We are taught in Bereshit Rabbah 8:3 that the Torah wanted to teach us by the wording of this verse that whenever 2 people who are disparate in stature plan an undertaking involving both of them, the intellectually superior one should consult with the other before going ahead on his own. Furthermore, in the same paragraph of Bereshit Rabbah, Rabbi Shemuel bar Nachman in the name of Rabbi Yonathan says that at the time when Moses had to write down the details of everything G’d had created on each of the six “days,” he balked when he came to this verse. He asked G’d if this formulation would not encourage heretics to think that G’d had a partner (as Divinity). G’d replied: “write it down as I dictated it to you; if someone wants to fool himself into believing that I must have a partner, let him delude himself.” G’d called this crown jewel... G’d called this crown jewel of His creation Adam, as we are told in Genesis 5:1 (referring to Adam/Chavah). If the reason that G’d called man אדם was that he was made from אדמה, “earth,” this hardly seems to justify the name אדם, seeing that all the other creatures on earth were also made from earth. G’d wanted to distinguish man both by name as well as by body and spirit. Everybody knows that all other living creatures on earth have as their raw material earth, dust; there was therefore no need to remind us that they were inextricably tied to earth. Adam, whose spirit originated in heaven G’d called Adam, whose spirit originated in heaven, as distinct from the spirit of the animals, אדם, to prevent his being perceived as part of life in the celestial regions. People should not think that man was simply an angel who had come down to earth. Residents of the celestial spheres have not been equipped with a body at all. The basic elements from which they are formed are none of them raw materials found in our “lower” universe. Even such creatures as שדים, demons, which do possess a body, (Chagigah 16) are totally different from man. Demons, though superficially similar to man, have been constructed from a fifth element, not from one of the four elements. At least this is what we have been told by the scientists of our time. When the Creator formed man using ingredients that are at home in the celestial regions as well as ingredients which are common in our domain, He called this creature אדם in spite of the fact his spirit originated in heaven, seeing his habitat was earth. Even though man has been equipped to make matters spiritual his principal pursuit in life, not one in a thousand does so. Hence, a name that reflects man’s predominant concern with earthly matters is quite appropriate. King Solomon had already lamented this fact in Kohelet 7:28 when he mentioned having found only one “man” in a thousand. Mahx note: Because Adam rebelled If Adam was to be the crown of creation it was not to be as the owner of the other creations. Because Adam rebelled and became proud toward creation and toward G-d, all the elements of heaven and earth turned against him/them. For the sake of his grace and his kingdom, Hashem rules over this cursedness of creation that comes against Adam by directing it to take place in the headship of Egypt, as follows: Ezekiel Chapter 32 1 And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying: 2 ’Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him: Thou didst liken thyself unto a young lion of the nations; Whereas thou art as a dragon in the seas; And thou didst gush forth with thy rivers, And didst trouble the waters with thy feet, And foul their rivers. Rashi: You resembled a young lion among the nations, but you are like a crocodile in the seas: You should have lain in the midst of your rivers, as is the custom of the fish, and not gone out to the dry land; but you were haughty in your heart, and you compared yourself to a young lion, which dominates the dry land and goes forth to tear prey. and you went out with your rivers: [Heb. וַתָּגַח,] and you went out with your rivers, the same meaning as in (Ps. 22: 10): “You drew me (גֹחִי) from the womb” ; (Job 40:23), “he will draw (יָגִיחַ) the Jordan into his mouth” ; Jud. 20:33), “And the liers in wait of Israel drew forth (מֵגִיחַ).” [This is] an expression for something flowing and going out of a hidden place. and you sullied: [Heb. וַתִּדְלַח,] an expression of making something murky. with your feet: You had no feet, but I made for you feet like the beasts of the earth, to cross the waters of the lands and to tread their rivers. The symbolism is like Targum Jonathan: and you waged war with your camps and you caused the peoples to quake with your supporters, and you destroyed their countries. 3 Thus saith the Lord GOD: I will therefore spread out My net over thee With a company of many peoples; And they shall bring thee up in My net. with My net: [Heb. בְּחֶרְמִי,] a word for a net, and there are many in Scriptures, [e.g.,] (Hab. 1:15): “he catches them in his net (בְּחֶרְמוֹ) ” ; (Ecc. 7: 26), “snares and nets (וַחֲרָמִים).” 4 And I will cast thee upon the land, I will hurl thee upon the open field, And will cause all the fowls of the heaven to settle upon thee, And I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee. 5 And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, And fill the valleys with thy foulness. Or: And I shall lay your flesh upon the mountains, and I shall fill the valleys with what is cast off from you. הוְנָתַתִּי אֶת בְּשָׂרְךָ עַל הֶהָרִים וּמִלֵּאתִי הַגֵּאָיוֹת רָמוּתֶךָ and I shall fill the valleys with what is cast off from you: [Heb. רָמוּתֶ] your casting, like (Exod. 15:1): “He cast (רָמָה) into the sea.” Others say that רָמוּתֶ is meant as a form of the word for worm (רִמָה) , like (ibid. 16:20): “and it became alive with worms (וַיָרֻם).” 6 I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; And the channels shall be full of thee. Or: And I shall water with your blood the land where you float, even to the mountains, and the streams will fill up from you. ווְהִשְׁקֵיתִי אֶרֶץ צָפָתְךָ מִדָּמְךָ אֶל הֶהָרִים וַאֲפִקִים יִמָּלְאוּן מִמֶּךָּ And I shall water… the land where you float: [Heb. צָפָתְ,] the land where you float on the surface of the water of your rivers-like (Lam. 3:54): “Water floated (צָפוּ) over my head” ; (II Kings 6:6): “and the axe blade floated (וַיָצֶף)” - that land I will water with your blood. even to the mountains: the highest [mountains] in it. צָפָתְ is ton flottement in French, your floating, swimming. and the streams: [Heb. וַאֲפִיקִים,] riveyes in Old French, gullies, gulches; streams. 7 And when I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heaven, And make the stars thereof black; I will cover the sun with a cloud, And the moon shall not give her light. Or: And with your smoke I will cover the heavens, and I will darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not shine its light. וְכִסֵּיתִי בְכַבּוֹתְךָ שָׁמַיִם וְהִקְדַּרְתִּי אֶת כֹּכְבֵיהֶם שֶׁמֶשׁ בֶּעָנָן אֲכַסֶּנּוּ וְיָרֵחַ לֹא יָאִיר אוֹרוֹ And with your smoke I will cover the heavens: [Heb. בְּכַבּוֹתְ, lit. with you extinguishing.] When your conflagration will be extinguished, the smoke will rise and cover the sky and darken the luminaries; i.e., all who hear the news of what happened to you will mourn and be astonished, because everyone will worry about himself, saying, “The destroyer will stand up over us as well.” 8 All the bright lights of heaven Will I make black over thee, And set darkness upon thy land, Saith the Lord GOD. All the bright lights in the heavens: the heavenly princes, your intercessors. 9 I will also vex the hearts of many peoples, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known. And I will vex the heart: i.e., their heart will tremble and quake. when I bring your ruin: when I bring the ruin of your battles among the peoples. 10 Yea, I will make many peoples appalled at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish My sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall. Or: And I will cause many peoples to be appalled by you, and their kings will storm over you when I cause My sword to fly before their faces, and they will quake at their ruin, everyone for himself on the day of your downfall. וַהֲשִׁמּוֹתִי עָלֶיךָ עַמִּים רַבִּים וּמַלְכֵיהֶם יִשְׂעֲרוּ עָלֶיךָ שַׂעַר בְּעוֹפְפִי חַרְבִּי עַל פְּנֵיהֶם וְחָרְדוּ לִרְגָעִים אִישׁ לְנַפְשׁוֹ בְּיוֹם מַפַּלְתֶּךָ And I will cause… to be appalled: [Heb. וַהֲשִּׁוֹתִי,] an expression of bewilderment. when I cause My sword to fly before their faces: [Heb. בְּעוֹפְפִי,] an expression of a flying bird, when I send upon you the army of My emissaries through their land. and they will quake at their ruin: [Heb. לִרְגָעִים,] to ruins, lest ruin come upon them as well. Another explanation: an expression of an actual moment (רֶגַע). In this sense, Menachem (p. 162) connects it. everyone for himself: each one concerning himself, soi-meme in French, for himself. 11 For thus saith the Lord GOD: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee. 12 By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall; The terrible of the nations are they all; And they shall spoil the pride of Egypt, And all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed. 13 I will destroy also all the beasts thereof From beside many waters; Neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, Nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them. from beside… waters: of other countries that you used to sully. 14 Then will I make their waters to settle, And cause their rivers to run like oil, Saith the Lord GOD. I shall sink their waters: The foot of cattle will not make it murky, and the mud will sink, so that the water will be clear and clean like refined oil. 15 When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate and waste, A land destitute of that whereof it was full, When I shall smite all them that dwell therein, Then shall they know that I am the LORD. Or: When I make the land of Egypt, a land that is full, desolate and waste; when I smite all those who dwell in it, they will know that I am the Lord. בְּתִתִּי אֶת אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם שְׁמָמָה וּנְשַׁמָּה אֶרֶץ מִמְּלֹאָהּ בְּהַכּוֹתִי אֶת כָּל יוֹשְׁבֵי בָהּ וְיָדְעוּ כִּי אֲנִי יְהֹוָה a land that is full: [Heb. אֶרֶץמִמְלוֹאָה, a land that is now full (מִמְוּלָאָה) of all goodness. 16 This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament; The daughters of the nations shall lament therewith; For Egypt, and for all her multitude, shall they lament therewith, Saith the Lord GOD.’ 17 It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying: 18 ’Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, with the daughters of the mighty nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit. 19 Whom dost thou pass in beauty? Go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised. 20 They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword; she is delivered to the sword; draw her down and all her multitudes. 21 The strong among the mighty shall speak of him out of the midst of the nether-world with them that helped him; they are gone down, they lie still, even the uncircumcised, slain by the sword. 22 Asshur is there and all her company; their graves are round about them; all of them slain, fallen by the sword; 23 whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living. 24 There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit. 25 They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude; her graves are round about them; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; because their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit; they are put in the midst of them that are slain. 26 There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude; her graves are round about them; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; because they caused their terror in the land of the living. 27 And they that are inferior to the uncircumcised shall not lie with the mighty that are gone down to the nether-world with their weapons of war, whose swords are laid under their heads, and whose iniquities are upon their bones; because the terror of the mighty was in the land of the living. 28 But thou, in the midst of the uncircumcised shalt thou be broken and lie, even with them that are slain by the sword. 29 There is Edom, her kings and all her princes, who for all their might are laid with them that are slain by the sword; they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit. 30 There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians, who are gone down with the slain, ashamed for all the terror which they caused by their might, and they lie uncircumcised with them that are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit. 31 These shall Pharaoh see, and shall be comforted over all his multitude; even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, saith the Lord GOD. 32 For I have put My terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.’ |
Pharaoh The Dead
A Poem On Ezekiel 32 Pharaoh, You old crawling crocodile! You thought you were a young lion with your voice roaring through the trees of the Garden of Eden. You mortally wounded dragon! You decrepit evil inclination. You took possession of fallen Adam, like some putrid demon taking possession of vain flesh. Hashem is speaking to you and you are going to hear! Hashem has you marked for destruction. He has set you up for annihilation. You were a water serpent a writhing river, writhing through the dust, since the day you were cast down to crawl on your belly in the the dust of death. You built an oasis a home of dreams in the dead lands. But you coveted for your own the Land of the Living. Hashem will exterminate you before the face of his people. You slitherer, he has given you crawling legs that you might crawl to the place of your hunger and lust, the place of your slaughter. Your corpse shall be spread upon the earth. Your dust shall become a cloud of darkness upon the face of all the heavens. All the creatures of the earth shall celebrate your demise. They shall claim their victory when you die. When you will climb to the heights, hungering to open your great mouth and consume the whole House of the Living, you shall gather all of Edom and the kings of the north with the power of your tail, to bring them as your footmen to your feast. You shall empower them with terrorism against the Land of the Living, by breathing the poison of your breath into their nostrils. And when you bite off what you can neither chew nor swallow, there you will die. And you will go down then to lie in the emptiness and stillness of an endless consumption with the others who have been brought down through your uncircumcised heart, your uncircumcised pride, the flesh that Hashem has not chosen. You sought to swallow up Hashem's house and you shall be swallowed up by the earth and go down and down to Pharaoh's hell. Assyria has its community there. and Elam, that belly of Persia, is represented there too. Edom is also waiting there for you. All your offspring who you taught to inflict terror on the Land of the Living. And all the nations that are pulled out of your mouth shall see your blood and flesh made like putrid mud flowing in the rivers below and washing through the mountain valleys above. Then the Land of the Living shall see and fear Hashem alone, when your terror in all the earth shall be mocked as a roaring wind empty of strength, like a wind that has passed before it has come. Then your terror in the Land of the Living shall be forever forgotten, and the fear of Hashem shall bring joy to the earth without end. |
Herod's Temple
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Envisioning The Temple
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Ezekiel's Temple diagram 1
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