The Rechabites.

Discussion about the Hebrew Bible, Septuagint, pseudepigrapha, Philo, Josephus, Talmud, Dead Sea Scrolls, archaeology, etc.
Post Reply
User avatar
Ben C. Smith
Posts: 8994
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 2:18 pm
Location: USA
Contact:

The Rechabites.

Post by Ben C. Smith »

I am tracking down ancient sources for the Rechabites:

2 Kings 10.15-28: 15 Now when he had departed from there, he found Jehonadab the son of Rechab [בֶּן־רֵכָב, υἱὸν Ρηχαβ] coming to meet him; and he blessed him and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart?” And Jehonadab said, “It is.” Jehu said, “If it is, give me your hand.” And he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot. 16 He said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.” So they made him ride in his chariot. 17 When he came to Samaria, he smote all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to Elijah. 18 Then Jehu gathered all the people and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much. 19 Now, summon all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers and all his priests; let no one be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal; whoever is missing shall not live.” But Jehu did it in cunning, so that he might destroy the worshipers of Baal. 20 And Jehu said, “Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal.” And they proclaimed it. 21 Then Jehu sent throughout Israel and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And when they went into the house of Baal, the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other. 22 He said to the one who was over the wardrobe, “Bring out garments for all the worshipers of Baal.” So he brought out garments for them. 23 Jehu went into the house of Baal with Jehonadab the son of Rechab [בֶּן־רֵכָב, υἱὸς Ρηχαβ]; and he said to the worshipers of Baal, “Search and see that there is here with you none of the servants of the Lord, but only the worshipers of Baal.” 24 Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed for himself eighty men outside, and he had said, “The one who permits any of the men whom I bring into your hands to escape, it shall be his soul for his soul.” 25 Then it came about, as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the runners and to the royal officers, “Go in, smite them; let none come out.” And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the runners and the royal officers threw them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal. 26 They brought out the sacred pillars of the house of Baal and burned them. 27 They also broke down the sacred pillar of Baal and broke down the house of Baal, and made it a latrine to this day. 28 Thus Jehu eradicated Baal out of Israel.

Jeremiah 35.1-19:

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, 2 “Go to the house of the Rechabites [אֶל־בֵּית הָרֵכָבִים, εἰς οἶκον Αρχαβιν] and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.” 3 Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites [καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκίαν Αρχαβιν, וְאֵת כָּל־בֵּית הָרֵכָבִים], 4 and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the doorkeeper. 5 Then I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites [κατὰ πρόσωπον αὐτῶν, לִפְנֵי בְּנֵי בֵית־הָרֵכָבִים] pitchers full of wine and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine!” 6 But they said, “We will not drink wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab [בֶּן־רֵכָב, υἱὸς Ρηχαβ], our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall not drink wine, you or your sons, forever. 7 You shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed and you shall not plant a vineyard or own one; but in tents you shall dwell all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ 8 We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab [בֶּן־רֵכָב], our father, in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons or our daughters, 9 nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; and we do not have vineyard or field or seed. 10 We have only dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and have done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11 But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come and let us go to Jerusalem before the army of the Chaldeans and before the army of the Arameans.’ So we have dwelt in Jerusalem.”

12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 13 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Go and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not receive instruction by listening to My words?” declares the Lord. 14 “The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab [בֶּן־רֵכָב, υἱοῦ Ρηχαβ], which he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are observed. So they do not drink wine to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. But I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking; yet you have not listened to Me. 15 Also I have sent to you all My servants the prophets, sending them, rising early and speaking, saying, ‘Turn now every man from his evil way and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to worship them. Then you will dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your forefathers; but you have not inclined your ear or listened to Me. 16 Indeed, the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab [בֶּן־רֵכָב, υἱοῦ Ρηχαβ] have observed the command of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to Me.’”’ 17 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am bringing on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I spoke to them but they did not listen, and I have called them but they did not answer.’”

18 Then Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites [לְבֵית הָרֵכָבִים], “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Because you [υἱοὶ Ιωναδαβ υἱοῦ Ρηχαβ] have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father, kept all his commands and done according to all that he commanded you; 19 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Jonadab the son of Rechab [בֶּן־רֵכָב, υἱοῦ Ρηχαβ] shall not lack a man to stand before Me all the days.”’”

1 Chronicles 2.55: 55 The families of scribes who lived at Jabez were the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and the Sucathites. Those are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab [בֵית־רֵכָב, οἴκου Ῥηχά]. [Judges 4.11: 11 Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, from the sons of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the terebinth in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.]

Nehemiah 3.14: 14 Malchijah the son of Rechab [בֶן־רֵכָב, υἱὸς Ῥηχάβ], the official of the district of Beth-Haccherem repaired the Refuse Gate. He built it and hung its doors with its bolts and its bars.

Mishnah, Taanit 4.5: The wood festival was celebrated by the priests and the people nine times. On the first of Nissan it was the family of Arah, of the tribe of Judah; on the twentieth of Tammuz it was the family of David, of the tribe of Judah; on the fifth of Av it was the family of Parosh, of the tribe of Judah. On the seventh of that month it was the family of Yonadav the son of Rechab [בֶּן רֵכָב]; on the tenth of that month it was the family of Senaah, of the tribe of Benjamin; on the fifteenth of that month it was the family of Zatu, of the tribe of Judah, and with them were the priests, the Levites, and anyone who was not sure of his tribe, and the family of the pestle smugglers, and the family of the fig cutters. On the twentieth of that month it was the family of Pahat-Moav, of the tribe of Judah. On the twentieth of that month it was the family of Adin, of the tribe of Judah. On the first of Tevet, the family of Parosh returned for a second turn. On the first of Tevet, there was no maamed since Hallel was recited and there was a mussaf offering and a wood-offering.

Eusebius, History of the Church 2.23.3-18: 3 The manner of the death of James has been already indicated by the abovementioned words of Clement, who records that he was thrown from the pinnacle of the temple and was beaten to death with a club. But Hegesippus, who lived immediately after the apostles, gives the most accurate account in the fifth book of his Memoirs. He writes as follows: 4 “James, the brother of the Lord, succeeded to the government of the church in conjunction with the apostles. He has been called Just by all from the times of the Lord to the present day, for there were many that bore the name of James. He was holy from the womb of his mother. 5 He drank no wine nor strong drink, nor did he eat flesh. No razor came upon his head; he did not anoint himself with oil, and he did not use the bath. 6 He alone was permitted to enter into the holy place [εἰς τὰ ἅγια, Rufinus in sancta sanctorum]; for he wore not woolen but linen garments. And he was in the habit of entering alone into the temple, and he was frequently found upon his knees begging forgiveness for the people, so that his knees became hard like those of a camel in consequence of his constantly bending them in his worship of God and asking forgiveness for the people. 7 Because of his exceeding great justice he was called the Just, and Oblias, which in Greek signifies a bulwark of the people and justice, in accordance with what the prophets declare concerning him. 8 Now some of the seven sects, which existed among the people and which have been mentioned by me in the memoirs, asked him: What is the gate of Jesus? And he replied that it was the savior. 9 On account of these words some believed that Jesus is the Christ. But the sects mentioned above did not believe either in a resurrection or in the coming of one to give to every man according to his works. But as many as believed did so on account of James. 10 Therefore, when many even of the rulers believed, there was a commotion among the Jews and scribes and Pharisees, who said that there was danger that the whole people would be looking for Jesus as the Christ. Coming therefore in a body to James they said, ‘We entreat you, restrain the people, for they have gone astray in regard to Jesus, as if he were the Christ. We entreat you to persuade all that have come to the feast of the Passover concerning Jesus; for we all have confidence in you. For we bear you witness, as do all the people, that you are just and that you do not respect persons. 11 Persuade, therefore, the multitude not to be led astray concerning Jesus. For the whole people, and all of us also, have confidence in you. Stand therefore upon the pinnacle of the temple, that from that high position you might be clearly seen, and that your words may be readily heard by all the people. For all the tribes, with the gentiles also, have come together on account of the Passover.’ 12 The aforesaid scribes and Pharisees therefore placed James upon the pinnacle of the temple and cried out to him and said, ‘Just one, in whom we ought all to have confidence, forasmuch as the people are led astray after Jesus, the crucified one, declare to us what the gate of Jesus is.’ 13 And he answered with a loud voice, ‘Why do you ask me concerning Jesus, the Son of Man? He himself sits in heaven at the right hand of the Great Power, and is about to come upon the clouds of heaven!’ 14 And, when many were fully convinced and gloried in the testimony of James, and said, ‘Hosanna to the son of David,’ these same scribes and Pharisees said again to one another, ‘We have done badly in supplying such testimony to Jesus. But let us go up and throw him down, in order that they may be afraid to believe him.’ 15 And they cried out, saying, ‘Oh, oh, the just one is also in error!’ And they fulfilled the scripture written in Isaiah, ‘Let us take away the just one because he is troublesome to us; therefore they shall eat the fruit of their works’ (= Isaiah 3.10; Wisdom of Solomon 2.12). 16 So they went up and threw down the just one, and said to each other, ‘Let us stone James the Just.’ And they began to stone him, for he was not killed by the fall, but he turned and knelt down and said, ‘I entreat you, Lord God our Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ 17 And while they were thus stoning him one of the priests of the sons of Rechab, a son of the Rechabites [εἷς τῶν ἱερέων τῶν υἱῶν Ῥηχὰβ υἱοῦ Ῥαχαβείμ], who are mentioned by Jeremiah the prophet (= Jeremiah 35.1-19), cried out, saying, ‘Cease! What are you doing? The just one is praying for you!’ 18 And one of them, one of the fullers, took the club with which he beat out clothes and struck the just one on the head. And thus he suffered martyrdom. And they buried him on the spot, by the temple, and his monument still remains by the temple. He became a true witness, both to Jews and Greeks, that Jesus is the Christ. And immediately Vespasian besieged them.”

Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 91b: 91b .... “These were the potters and those who dwelt among plantations and hedges; there they dwelt, occupied in the king’s work” (= 1 Chronicles 4.23). “These were the potters [היוצרים, hayoṣerim].” These are the sons of Jonadab, son of Rechab [בני יונדב בן רכב], who kept [שנצרו, naṣeru, same root as noṣri] their father’s oath. ....

John Bright, Jeremiah (Anchor Bible), pages 190-191: The Rechabite vow is in its major features clearly reminiscent of life in the desert. This is certainly true of their refusal to till the soil or live in houses, and probably of their abstinence from wine as well, viticulture doubtless being regarded by them as a symbol of the sedentary life which they rejected. The Rechabites were thus a clan who by their manner of life symbolized their renunciation of the agrarian and urban culture to which their nation had long since assimilated, and who expressed their loyalty to Yahweh and to their ancestor’s wishes by clinging to the simple seminomadic life of their remote forefathers. The founder of this clan, Jonadab ben Rechab, is known from II Kings x 15-17 as one who had physically assisted Jehu in his bloody purge of the house of Ahab in the ninth century. Apparently the excesses of Ahab and Jezebel, their importation of the worship of the Tyrian Baal, together with the progressive urbanization of Israelite society then taking place and the attendant disintegration of social patterns, had awakened in many minds both revulsion and a nostalgia for the traditions and simpler ways of the past. Some — and Jonadab was one of them (the great prophet Elijah, in his own way, was another) — had consciously returned to ancient patterns of life in protest against the prevailing decay, both social and religious. The history of the Rechabites prior to the ninth century cannot be traced. If they were of Kenite origin (I Chron ii 55), they stemmed from a people who claimed kinship with Moses (Judg i 16), and who for a long time after Israel’s settlement continued their seminomadic life both in the southern desert (I Sam xv 6), and within Israelite territory itself (Judg iv 17; v 24). The fact that the Rechabite vow is in some respects similar to that of the Nazirite almost certainly indicates some connection between the two (as we learn from Num vi the Nazirite vow forbade not only the drinking of wine, but the use of the produce of the vine in any form, whether grapes or raisins, grape juice or vinegar). The Nazirite vow had had a long history in Israel, reaching back to the days of the conquest and the judges (Samson [Judg xiii 4-7], and apparently Samuel [I Sam i 11] were Nazirites), and may well have originally symbolized opposition to Canaanite culture as well as ritual fitness to fight the holy wars of Yahweh.

Some commentators have claimed that Benjamin of Tudela wrote of some Rechabites in century XII, but Marcus Nathan Adler writes in a footnote (148 online) to his translation:

Marcus Nathan Adler, The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, footnote 148: In reading through the foregoing account of the Jews in Arabia, it is quite clear that Benjamin never visited the country, nor did he pretend to have done so. In the words of Mr. C. E. Beazley (The Dawn of Modern Geography, p. 252), “It is no longer, for the most part, a record of personal travel; it is rather an attempt to supplement the first part ‘of things seen’ by a second ‘of things heard.’” But Beazley is wrong when he characterizes as “wild” the account of the Jews of Southern Arabia “who were Rechabites.” Does Benjamin say so? There is no such reading in the MS. of the British Museum. The student, it is thought, will by this time have come to the conclusion that it is the oldest and most trustworthy of our available authorities. The whole misconception has arisen from the fact that the unreliable MS. E and all the printed editions have transposed the letters of Hebrew כיבר and made רכב of it. Rapoport, in the article already referred to, seems to suspect the faulty reading: to justify it, he connects the men of Kheibar with the Rechabites and the sons of Heber the Kenite, basing his argument upon Jer. xxxv, Judges i. 16, I Sam. xxvii. 10, and I Chron. ii. 55. [Link.]

So that particular reference seems to be a dead end. But feel free to let me know of any references I may be missing. (I am putting the text and translation of the History of the Rechabites in the next post; it has too many characters for this one.)

Ben.
Last edited by Ben C. Smith on Sun Sep 27, 2020 5:43 pm, edited 2 times in total.
ΤΙ ΕΣΤΙΝ ΑΛΗΘΕΙΑ
User avatar
Ben C. Smith
Posts: 8994
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 2:18 pm
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: The Rechabites.

Post by Ben C. Smith »


History of the Rechabites (Greek, Evans)
History of the Rechabites (English, Evans)
1.1 Διήγησις Ζωσίμου εἰς τὸν Βίον τῶν Μακάρων· Κύριε εὐλόγησον. Κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν ἐκ τῆς ἐρήμου ὑπῆρχεν ἀνήρ τις ὀνόματι Ζώσιμος ὅς οὐκ ἔφαγεν ἄρτον ἔτη τεσσαράκοντα καὶ οἶνον οὐκ ἔπιεν· καὶ πρόσωπον ἀνθρώπου οὐχ ἑόρακεν· 2 οὗτος ἦν παρακαλῶν τὸν θεὸν ἵνα ἴδῃ τὴν διοίκησιν τῶν μακάρων· 3 καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος κυρίου ἀπεστάλη λέγων αὐτῷ· Ζώσιμε ἄνθρωπε τοῦ θεοῦ, ἰδοὺ ἀπεστάλην ἀπὸ τοῦ ὑψίστου τοῦ τῶν ὅλων θεοῦ εἰπεῖν σοι ὅτι πεπορεύσῃ εἰς τοὺς μάκαρας· οὐ κατοικήσεις δὲ μετ᾽ αὐτῶν· 4 ἀλλὰ μὴ ὑψώσῃς τὴν καρδίαν σου εἰπών· ἔτη τεσσαράκοντα ἄρτον οὐκ ἔφαγον· ὁ γὰρ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ ὑπὲρ ἄρτον ἐστιν, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ ὑπὲρ οἶνόν ἐστιν· 5 τὸ γὰρ εἰπεῖν σε πρόσωπον ἀνθρώπου οὐκ εἶδον· ἰδοὺ τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ μεγάλου βασιλέως, ἐγγύς σου· 6 ὁ δὲ Ζώσιμος ἔφη· οἶδα ὅτι ὅσα ἄν θέλῃ ὁ κύριος δύναται· 7 ὁ δὲ ἄγγελος εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτόν· γνῶθι καὶ τοῦτο· ὅτι πρὸς ἓν τῶν γευμάτων αὐτῶν οὐκ εἶ ἄξιος· πλὴν ἀναστὰς πορεύου.1.1 The narrative of Zosimos concerning the Life of the Blessed Ones. O Lord, bless.At that time from the desert there existed a certain man by the name Zosimos, who had not eaten bread for forty years and had not drunk wine. And he had not seen the face of a human. 2 This one was begging God, in order that he might see the habitation of the blessed ones. 3 And behold, an angel of the Lord was sent, saying: "O Zosimos, man of God, behold, I was sent by the Most High God of All to seep to you that you will go to the blessed ones; but you will not well with them. 4 "But do not exalt your heart, saying: 'For forty years I did not eat bread.' For the word of God is more than bread, and the Spirit of God is more than wine. 5 "For your saying: 'I have not seen the face of a hyman,' behold, the face of the great king (is) near you." 6 But Zosimos said: "I know that whatever the Lord should wish, he is able." 7 The angel said to him: "Know also this -- that (even) for one of their meals you are not worthy. Nevertheless, arising, come."
2.1 Ἐγὼ δὲ Ζώσιμος ἐξελθὼν ἐκ τοῦ σπηλαίου μου τοῦ θεοῦ με προάγοντος ἐπορευόμην μὴ ἐπιστάμενος τὴν ὁδὸν ποῦ ἀπέρχομαι. 2 καὶ ὁδεύσας ἡμέρας τεσσαράκοντα ὠλιγοψύχησεν τὸ πνεῦμά μου καὶ ἐξελύθη τὸ σῶμά μου· καὶ ἀκηδιάσας ἐκαθέσθην καὶ ἤμην προσευχόμενος ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἐκείνῳ ἐπὶ ἡμέρας τρεῖς· 3 καὶ ἰδοὺ ἦλθεν ζῷον ἐκ τῆς ἐρήμου ὄνομα αὐτῷ κάμηλος· καὶ θήσας τὰ γόνατα εἰς τὴν γῆν· ἔλαβέν με εἰς τὸν τράχηλον αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἐπορεύθη τὴν ἔρημον καὶ ἀπέθετο με· 4 καὶ ἦν ἀλαλαγμὸς τῶν θηρίων ἐκεῖ πολύς· καὶ βρυγμὸς καὶ ἰὸς θανατηφόρος. 5 ἔμφοβος δὲ γενόμενος, προσηυξάμην πρὸς κύριον· καὶ ἐγένετο σεισμὸς ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἐκείνῳ πολὺς μετ᾽ ἠχοῦς· 6 καὶ ἐφύσησεν λαῖλαψ ἀνέμου· καὶ ἐκίνησέν με ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς καὶ ὕψωσέν με εἰς τὸ πτερύγιον αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἤμην προσευχόμενος καὶ πορευόμενος· καὶ ἔστησέν με ἐπὶ τόπου ποταμώδους· καὶ ὄνομα τῷ ποταμῷ εὐμελής. 7 καὶ ἰδοὺ βουλομένου μου διέρχεσθαι τὸν ποταμὸν ἐβόησέν τις ὡς ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος λέγων· Ζώσιμε ἄνθρωπε τοῦ θεοῦ, οὐ δύνασαι διελθεῖν δι᾽ ἐμοῦ· οὐ γὰρ δύναται ὁ ἄνθρωπος τὰ ὕδατά μου διακόψαι· ἀλλ᾽ ἢ κατανόησον ἀπὸ τῶν ὑδάτων ἕως τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. 8 καὶ κατανόησας εἶδον τεῖχος νεφέλης κρατοῦν ἀπὸ τῶν ὑδάτων ἕως τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. 9 καὶ εἶπεν ἡ νεφέλη· Ζώσιμε ἄνθρωπε τοῦ θεοῦ, δι᾽ ἐμοῦ οὐ διέρχεται πετεινὸν ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου· οὐδὲ πνοὴ ἀνέμου· οὐδὲ αὐτὸς ὁ ἥλιος· οὐδὲ ὁ πειράζων ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τούτῳ δύναται διελθεῖν δι᾽ ἐμοῦ.2.1 Now I, Zosimos, having gone out of my cave, God having preceded me, went, not knowng the way where I am going. 2 And having traveled forty days, my spirit became faint-hearted and my body weakened; and becoming fretful, I sat and I was praying in that place three days. 3 And behold, an animal, whose name (was) camel, came out of the wilderness. And having placed (its) knees to the earth, received me onto his neck. And he took (me) into the deser and set me down. 4 And there was there much bleating of wild animals; and gnashing teeth and deadly poison. 5 Becoming afraid, I prayed to the Lord. And there was a great earthquake in that place, with sounds. 6 And a storm of wind blew and moved me from the earth and lifted me up on its wing. And I was praying and going. And it made me stand on a place beside a river; and the name of the river (was) Eumeles. 7 And behold, when I desired to cross over the river someone called out, as from the water, saying: "Zosimos, man of God, you are not able to pass through me; but direction your attention from the waters to heaven." 8 And directing my attention I saw a wall of cloud, reaching from the waters to heaven. 9 And the cloud said: "Zosimos, man of God, through me no bird passes out of this world, nor a breath of wind, nor the sun itself; not even the one who tempts in this world is able to pass through me."
3.1 Ἐγὼ δὲ ἐξέστην ἐπὶ τοῖς ῥήμασιν τούτοις καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ φωνῇ τῇ λεγούσῃ μοι ταῦτα. 2 καὶ ἐμοῦ προσευχομένου ἰδοὺ δύο δένδρα ἀνεφάνησαν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς καλοείδη καὶ εὐπρεπέστατα· γέμοντα καρπῶν εὐωδίας. 3 καὶ κλιθὲν τὸ δένδρον ἐντεῦθεν· ἔλαβεν με ἐπὶ τὴν κορυφὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ ὑψώθη σφόδρα ἀνάμεσον τοῦ ποταμοῦ· καὶ ὑπήντησεν τὸ ἄλλο δένδρον καὶ ἐδεξατό με ἐν τοῖς κλάδοις αὐτοῦ· καὶ κλιθὲν, ἔστησέν με ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν. 4 καὶ ἀνυψώθησαν τὰ ἀμφότερα καὶ ἔστησάν με ἀπὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ πέραν. 5 καὶ ἀνεπαυσάμην ἡμέρας τρεῖς ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἐκείνῳ· καὶ πάλιν ἀναστὰς ἐπορευόμην· ὅπου δ᾽ ἄν οὐκ ἐγίνωσκον. 6 καὶ ἦν ὁ τόπος ἐκεῖνος πλήρης εὐωδίας πολλῆς· καὶ οὐκ ἦν ὄρος ἔνθα, ἀλλ᾽ ἦν ὁ τόπος ἐκεῖνος πεδινὸς ἄφθορος· ὅλος ἐστεφανωμένος· καὶ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ εὐπρεπής.3.1 I was struck at these words and at the voice that spoke these things to me. 2 And while I was praying, behold, two trees sprang up from the earth, beautiful and most attractive, full of fragment fruits. 3 And when the tree here bent down, it took me upon its top and it was lifted up exceedingly over the middle of the river; and it met the other tree and it (the other tree) received me in his branches. And having bent (down), it made me stand upon the ground. 4 And both (trees) rose up and made me stand beyond the river. 5 And I rested for three days in that place; and again, arising, I went on, but where (I was going) I was not knowing. 6 And that place was full of much fragrance; and there was not a mountain here, but that place was level, pure, wholly adorned; and all the land (was) attractive.
4.1 Καὶ εἶδον ἐκεῖ ἄνθρωπον γυμνὸν καθήμενον· καὶ εἶπον ἐν ἑαυτῷ· ἄρα μὴ οὕτως ἐστὶν ὁ πειράζων; 2 καὶ ἐμνήσθην τῆς φωνῆς τῆς νεφέλης ὅτι εἶπέν μοι· Ὅτι οὐ διέρχεται δι᾽ ἐμοῦ οὔτε αὐτὸς ὁ πειράζων ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ. 3 καὶ οὕτως θαρρήσας· εἶπον πρὸς αὐτόν· Χαίροις, ἀδελφέ. 4 καὶ αὐτὸς ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπέν μοι· Ἡ χάρις μετά σου. 5 καὶ πάλιν εἶπον πρὸς αὐτόν· Εἰπέ μοι, ἄνθρωπε τοῦ θεοῦ, τίς εἶ; 6 καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπέν μοι· Σὺ γὰρ εἶ; τίς εἶ; 7 καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ἐγὼ εἶπον πάντα τὰ περὶ ἐμοῦ· καὶ ὅτι ηὐξάμην πρὸς κύριον, καὶ ἤνεγκέν με ἐν τῷ τόπῳ τούτῳ. 8 καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπέν μοι· κἀγὼ γινώσκω ὅτι ἄνθρωπος τοῦ θεοῦ εἶ σύ· εἶ δὲ μή γε, οὐκ ἄν διῆλθες τὴν νεφέλην καὶ τὸν ποταμὸν καὶ τὸν ἀέρα. 9 τὸ γὰρ πλάτος τοῦ ποταμοῦ· ὡς ἀπὸ μιλίων τριάκοντα· ἡ δὲ νεφέλη ἕως τοῦ οὐρανοῦ· τὸ δὲ βάθος τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἕως τῶν ἀβύσσων.4.1 And I saw there a naked man seated; and I said in myself: "Is this one not then the one who tempts?" 2 And I remembered the voice of the cloud that said to me: "No one passes through me, not even the one who tempts in the world himself." 3 And so, taking courage, I said to him: "Greetings, brother!" 4 And he, answering, said to me: "Grace be with you!" 5 And again I said to him: "Tell me, man of God, who are you?" 6 And answering, he said to me: "For you are? Who are you?" 7 And answering, I told all things about myself, and that I prayed to the Lord, and he brought me to this place. 8 And answering, he said to me: "And I know that you are a man of God. But if indeed you were not, you would not have come through the cloud and river and the air. 9 "For the width of the river (is) about thirty miles, and the cloud (reaches) heaven, and the depth of the river (extends) to the abyss."
5.1 Καὶ πληρώσας τὸν λόγον τοῦτον ὁ ἄνθρωπος· εἶπε πάλιν· Σὺ ἐκ τῆς ματαιότητος τοῦ κόσμου ἦλθες ὧδε; 2 ἐγὼ δὲ εἶπον αὐτῷ· Διατί γυμνὸς ὑπάρχεις; 3 καὶ εἶπεν· Πόθεν ἔγνως ὅτι γυμνὸς ὑπάρχω; σὺ γὰρ φορῶν δέρματα ἐκ τῶν προβάτων τῆς γῆς ὑπάρχεις· καὶ αὐτὰ φθειρόμενα οὖν τῷ σώματι σου· ἀλλὰ κατανόησον τῷ ὑψώματι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ θέασαι τὸ ἔνδυμά μου ποῖόν ἐστιν. 4 καὶ θεασάμενος ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ εἶδον τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ὡσεὶ πρόσωπον ἀγγέλου· καὶ τὸ ἔνδυμα αὐτοῦ ὡς ἀστραπὴν ἡ ἐξ ἀνατολῶν εἰς δυσμὰς πορευομένη· καὶ ἐφοβήθην ὅτι υἱὸς θεοῦ ἦν· καὶ ἐγενήθην ἔντρομος πεσὼν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν.5.1 And having completed this word, the man said again: "From the vanity of the world have you come here?" 2 But I said to him: "Why are you naked?" 3 And he said: "How did you know that I am naked? For you are wearing skins from the sheep of the eath, and these perish, therefore, with your body. But give attention to the height of heaven and you will see what my clothing is like." 4 And having looked to heaven, I saw his face as a face of an angel, and his clothing as lightning that comes from the east. And I was afraid that he was a son of God. And I became terrified, falling upon the earth.
6.1 Καὶ δεδωκὼς χεῖρα ἀνέστησέν με λέγων· κἀγὼ εἷς εἰμὶ τῶν μακάρων. 2 δεῦρο ὅπως ἄξω σε πρὸς τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους. 3 καὶ κρατήσας τῆς χειρός μου· συμπεριεπάτησέν μοι· καὶ ἤγαγέν με ἐπί τινα ὄχλον καὶ ἦσαν ἐν τῷ ὄχλῳ ἐκείνῳ πρεσβῦται ὅμοιοι υἱοὶ θεοῦ· καὶ ἦσαν παριστάμενοι νεανίσκοι τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις. 4 ἀπελθόντος δὲ ἐμοῦ ἔγγιστα αὐτῶν εἶπαν· Οὗτος ἐκ τῆς ματαιότητος τοῦ κόσμου ἐλήλυθεν δεῦτε δεηθῶμεν τοῦ κυρίου καὶ φανερώσει ἡμῖν τὸ μυστήριον τοῦτο. 5 μὴ ἄρα τὸ τέλος ἔφθασεν, ὅτι ἄνθρωπος τῆς ματαιότητος ἦλθεν ὧδε. 6 καὶ ἀναστάντες, ἐδεήθησαν τοῦ κυρίου ὁμοθυμαδόν· καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄγγελοι δύο κατέβησαν ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν, καὶ εἶπαν· Μὴ φοβήθητε τὸν ἄνδρα, ὅτι ἀπέσταλκεν αὐτὸν ὁ θεὸς ἵνα ποιήσῃ ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας, καὶ λάβῃ τὰς διοικήσεις ὑμῶν· καὶ τότε ἐκπορεύεται, καὶ ἀπελεύσεται ἐν τῷ τόπῳ αὐτοῦ. 7 οἱ δὲ ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ εἰπόντες ταῦτα, ἀνέβησαν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐνώπιον τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἡμῶν.6.1 And having given me a hand, he stood me up, saying: "I am also one of the blessed ones. 2 "Come, that I may lead you to the elders." 3 And having seized my hand, he walked with me; and he led to to a crowd. And there were in that crowd elders like sons of God; and young men were standing beside the elders. 4 And when I came near them, they said: "This one has come from the vanity of the world. Come, let us beseech the Lord and he will reveal to us this mystery. 5 "Perhaps the end has arrived, because a man of the vanity has come here." 6 And arising, that beseeched the Lord togther. And behold, two angels came down from the heavens, and they said: "Do not fear the man, because God has sent him, that he might spend seven days and might understand your habitations. And he will depart and return to his place." 7 When the angels of God had spoken these things, they went up to heaven before our eyes.
7.1 Τότε παρέδωκάν με οἱ πρεσβύτεροι τῶν μακάρων ἕνα τῶν ὑπηρετῶν λέγοντες· Φύλαξον αὐτὸν ἕως ἡμερῶν ἑπτά. 2 παραλαβών με οὖν ὁ ὑπηρέτης, ἀπήγαγέν με εἰς τὸ σπήλαιον αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἤμεθα ὑποκάτω δένδρου διοικούμενοι· 3 ἀπὸ γὰρ ἕκτης ὥρας ἕως ἕκτης τότε ἠσθίομεν· καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ ἐξήρχετο ἀπὸ τοῦ δένδρου γλυκὺ ὑπὲρ τὸ μέλι, καὶ ἐπίνομεν πρὸς τὸν κόπον ἡμῶν, καὶ πάλιν τὸ ὕδωρ ἐδίδυσκεν εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτοῦ. 4 ἤκουσεν δὲ πᾶσα ἡ πατριὰ τῶν ἐκεῖσε περὶ ἐμοῦ· Ὅτι ἦλθεν ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τῆς ματαιότητος τοῦ κόσμου ὧδε. 5 καὶ ἐσαλεύθη πᾶσα ἡ πατριά, καὶ ἦλθον ἰδεῖν με ὅτι ξένον αὐτοῖς ἐφάνη. 6 ἦσαν οὖν ἐπερωτῶντές με πάντα· κἀγὼ ἤμην ἀναγγέλλων αὐτοῖς. 7 καὶ ὠλιγοψύχησα τῷ πνεύματι καὶ τῷ σώματι μου· καὶ παρεκάλεσα τὸν ἄνθρωπον τοῦ θεοῦ τὸν ὑπηρετοῦντά μοι καὶ εἶπον· Παρακαλῶ σε ἀδελφέ· ἐὰν ἔλθωσίν τινες ἰδεῖν με ἀνάγγειλον αὐτοῖς ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ὧδε ἵνα ἀναπαύσωμαι μικρόν. 8 καὶ ἐβόησεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος τοῦ θεοῦ λέγων· Οἴμοι ὅτι ἱστορία τοῦ Ἀδὰμ ἐμοὶ ἀνεκεφαλαιώθη· ἐκεῖνον γὰρ διὰ τῆς Εὔας ἠπάτησεν ὁ Σατανᾶς καὶ ἐμὲ ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὗτος· διὰ τῆς κολακείας, ψεύστην θέλει ἀποκαταστῆσαι. ὄντος αὐτοῦ ὧδε, εἶπέν μοι· Ὅτι ψεύστῃ καὶ εἶπε ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ὧδε. 9 ἀπαγάγετέ με ἐντεῦθεν, ἐπεὶ φεύξομαι ἀπὸ τῆς κώμης· ἰδοὺ γὰρ βούλεται κατασπείρειν ἐμοὶ σπέρματα τοῦ κόσμου τῆς ματαιότητος. 10 καὶ κατεπανέστησάν μου πᾶς ὁ ὄχλος· καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι καὶ εἶπον· Ἀπελθε ἀφ᾽ ἡμῶν, ἄνθρωπε, οὐκ οἴδαμεν πόθεν ἐλήλυθας πρὸς ἡμᾶς. 11 ἐγὼ δὲ ἔκλαυσα κλαυθμῷ μεγάλῳ, καὶ ἀπέστη ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ ἡ φρόνησις· καὶ ἐβόησα πρὸς τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους λέγων· Συγχωρήσατέ μοι, κύριοί μου. καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι καταπαύσαντες, ἡσυχίαν παρέσχον. 12 τότε ἐξηγησάμην αὐτοῖς τὰ ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς ἕως δεῦρο· καὶ ὅτι ἐδεήθην τοῦ θεοῦ ἐλθεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς· καὶ κατηξίωσέν με. 13 καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι εἶπον· Καὶ νῦν τί θέλεις ἵνα ποιήσωμέν σοι. 14 ἐγὼ δὲ εἶπον αὐτοῖς· Θέλω λαβεῖν ἐξ ὑμῶν τὰς διοικήσεις ὑμῶν.7.1 Then the elders of the blessed ones handed me over to one of the attendants, saying: "Guard him for seven days." 2 When then the attendant received me, he led me away to his cave. And we were beneath a tree managing ourselves. 3 For from the sixth hour to the sixth (hour we fasted), then we were eating. And the water (which was) sweeter than honey flowed from a tree, and we were drinking to (our) fill. And again, the water returned to his place. 4 All the family of those there heard concerning me: "A man came here from the vanity of the world." 5 And all the family was moved, and they came to see me, because a stranger had appeared to them. 6 Then they were asking me many things; and I was telling them. 7 And I became faint in spirit and in my body; and I begged the man of God who attended to me and I said: "I beg you, brother, if some should come to see me tell them that he is not here, so that I may rest a little." 8 And the man of God called out, saying: "Woe to me that the story of Adam be repeated in me; for that one through Eve Satan deceived and this man, through flattery, wishes to make me a liar! While being here, he said to me: 'Lie and say that he is not here.' 9 "Lead me away from here, since I will flee from the village; for behold, he plans to sow in me seeds of the world of vanity." 10 And all the crowd and the elders rose up against me and said: "Depart from us, man, we do not know when you have come to us!" 11 But I wept with a great lamentation, and understand departed from me. And I called out to the elders, saying: "Forgive me, my lords!" And the elders, having ceased, presented silence. 12 Then I narrated to them that from the beginning until now, and that "I beseeched God to come to you" and he counted me worthy. 13 And the elders said: "And now what do you wish that he should do for you?" 14 I said to them: "I wish to understand from you your habitations."
8.1 Οἱ δὲ ἐχάρησαν χαρὰν μεγάλη, καὶ ἄραντες πλάκας λιθίνας· κατέγραψαν τοῖς ὄνυξιν αὐτῶν οὕτως· Ἀκούσατε ἀκούσατε, υἱοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἡμῶν τῶν γενομένων μακάρων· ὅτι καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐξ ὑμῶν ἐσμέν. 2 ὅτε γὰρ ἐκήρυξεν Ἰερεμίας ὁ προφήτης ὅτι ἡ πόλις Ἰερουσαλὴμ παραδοθήσεται εἰς χεῖρας τῶν ὀλοθρευόντων, διέρρηξεν τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ· καὶ περιεζώσατο σάκκον περὶ τὴν ὀσφὺν αὐτοῦ· καὶ χοῦν ἔλαβεν ἐπὶ τῆς κοίτης αὐτοῦ· καὶ εἶπεν παντὶ τῷ λαῷ ἀποστραφῆναι ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ αὐτοῦ τῆς πονηρᾶς. 3 ἤκουσεν δὲ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν Ῥηχὰβ υἱὸς Ἀμιναδὰβ καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς ἡμᾶς· Ἀκούσατε, υἱοὶ Ῥηχὰβ καὶ θυγατέρες τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν, καὶ ἀποδύσασθε τὰ ἱμάτια ὑμῶν ἐκ τοῦ σώματος ὑμῶν καὶ κεράμιον οἴνου οὐ πίεσθε· καὶ ἄρτον ἐκ τοῦ πυρὸς οὐ φάγεσθε· καὶ σίκερα καὶ μέλι οὐ πίεσθε· ἕως τοῦ εἰσακοῦσαι κύριον τῆς δεήσεως ὑμῶν. 4 ἡμεῖς δὲ εἴπαμεν· Ὅτι ἃ ἐνετείλατο ἡμῖν ποιήσωμεν καὶ ἀκουσώμεθα. 5 καὶ ἀπερρίψαμεν ἐκ τοῦ σώματος ἡμῶν τὴν περιβολὴν ἡμῶν· καὶ οὐκ ἐφάγομεν ἄρτον ἐκ πυρός, καὶ οὐκ ἐπίομεν κεράμιον οἴνου· οὔτε μέλι οὔτε σίκερα· καὶ ἐκλαύσαμεν κλαυθμῷ μεγάλῳ· καὶ ἐδεήθημεν τοῦ κυρίου. 6 καὶ ἤκουσεν τῆς προσευχῆς ἡμῶν καὶ ἀπέστρεψεν τὴν ὀργῆν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως Ἰερουσαλήμ, καὶ ἐγενήθη τῇ πόλει Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἔλεος παρὰ κυρίου καὶ ἠλέησεν τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἀπέστρεψεν τὴν ὀργὴν αὐτοῦ τὴν θανατηφόρον.8.1 They rejoiced with great joy, and having taken stone tablets, they inscribed with their fingernails according: "Hear, hear, O sons of men, us who became blessed ones; because we also are from you. 2 "For when Jeremiah the prophet proclaimed that the city of Jerusalem will be delivered into the hands of the destroyers, he tore his garments and he girded himself with sack cloth around his waist and he took dust from his bed and he said to all the people to turn away from its evil way. 3 "And our father Rechab, son of Aminadab, heard and said to us: 'Listen, sons of Rechab and daughers of your father, and put off your garments from your body and do not drink a vessel of wine, and do not eat bread from the fire, and do not drink strong drink and honey, until the Lord should hear your petition.' 4 "We said: 'What he has commanded us let us do and let us hear.' 5 "And we tore from our body our covering, and we did not eat bread from fire, and we did not drink a vessel of wine, neither honey nor strong drink; and we wept with a great lamentation. And we petitioned the Lord. 6 "And he heard our prayer and he turned back his anger from the city of Jerusalem, and mercy from the Lord was for the city of Jerusalem, and he pitied his people. And he turned back his death-bearing anger."
9.1 Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἀπέθανεν ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς πόλεως Ἰερουσαλήμ· καὶ ἀνέστη βασιλεὺς ἕτερος. 2 καὶ συνηθροίσθη πᾶς ὁ λαὸς πρὸς αὐτόν, καὶ κατάδηλον ἐποίησαν πρὸς αὐτὸν περὶ ἡμῶν καὶ εἶπαν· Εἰσίν τινες ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ σου, οἵτινες ἤλλαξαν τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτῶν ἀφ᾽ ἡμῶν. 3 καλέσας οὖν αὐτοὺς ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτοὺς ἕνεκεν τίνος πεποιήκασιν τοῦτο. 4 καὶ μετεκαλέσατο ἡμᾶς καὶ ἐπηρώτησεν· Τίνος ἐστὲ καὶ ποίας θρησκείας ἢ ἐκ ποίας πατρίδος; 5 καὶ εἴπαμεν αὐτῷ ἡμεῖς· Ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ σοῦ ἐσμεν τῆς πόλεως Ἰερουσαλήμ· καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεύς· Τίνος υἱοί ἐστε· καὶ εἴπαμεν αὐτῷ· Υἱοί ἐσμεν παιδός σου, πατρὸς δὲ ὑμῶν Ῥηχὰβ υἱοὶ Ἰωναδάβ. 6 καὶ ὅτε ἐκήρυξεν Ἰερεμίας ὁ προφήτης, ζῶντος τοῦ πατρός σου τοῦ βασιλέως, ἐκήρυξεν θάνατον τῇ πόλει Ἰερουσαλὴμ ὅτι ἔτι τριῶν ἡμερῶν καὶ πᾶσα ἡ πόλις θανατωθήσεται. 7 ἀκούσας δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς ὁ πατήρ σου μετέγνω ἐπὶ ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐξέθετο δόγμα πᾶσιν τοῦ ἀποστρέψαι ἐκ τῆς ὁδοῦ αὐτῶν τῆς πονηρᾶς. 8 ἀκούσας δὲ ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν σου, ἐνετείλατο ἡμῖν λέγων· Κεράμιον οἴνου οὐ πίεσθε, καὶ ἄρτον ἐκ πυρὸς οὐ φάγεσθε, ἕως τοῦ εἰσακοῦσαι κύριον τῆς δεήσεως ὑμῶν. 9 ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐπηκούσαμεν τῆς ἐντολῆς τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ ἐγυμνώσαμεν τὰ σώματα ἡμῶν, καὶ οἶνον οὐκ ἐπίομεν, καὶ ἄρτον ἐκ πυρὸς οὐκ ἐφάγομεν· καὶ προσηυξάμεθα πρὸς κύριον περὶ τῆς πόλεως Ἰερουσαλήμ. 10 καὶ ἠλέησεν κύριος πρὸς τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἀπέστρεψεν τὴν ὀργὴν αὐτοῦ. καὶ εἴδομεν καὶ ὀνήθη ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν καὶ εἴπαμεν· Καλὸν εἶναι ἡμᾶς οὕτως.9.1 "And after these things, the king of the city of Jerusalem died, and another king arose. 2 "And all the people gathered to him and made plain to him concerning us and they said: 'There are some of your people, who changed their way from us.' 3 "Therefore, having called them, the king asked them for what cause they had done this. 4 "And he summoned us and asked: 'Of what (people) are you and of what religion and of what family?' 5 "And we said to him: 'We are of your people of the city of Jerusalem.' And the king said: 'Whose sons are you?' And we said to him: 'We are sons of your servant and of our father Jonadab.' 6 "And when Jeremiah the prophet preached, while your father the king was living, he proclaimed death to the city of Jerusalem: 'Yet in three days and all the city will be put to death.' 7 "And the king your father, having heard, repented of his sins, and issued a decree to all, to turn away from their evil way. 8 "Your father, having heard, commanded us, saying: 'Do not drink a vessel of wine, and bread from fire do not eat, until the Lord heards your petition.' 9 "We listened to the commandment of our father, and made our bodies naked, and we were not drinking wine, and bread from fire we did not eat, and we prayed to the Lord concerning the city of Jerusalem. 10 "And the Lord pitied his people, and he turned back his anger. And we said and our soul rejoiced and said: 'Thus it is good for us.'"
10.1 Καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὁ βασιλεύς· Καλῶς πεποιήκατε· 2 νῦν οὖν καταμίχθητε μετὰ τοῦ λαοῦ μου· καὶ φάγεσθε ἄρτον καὶ πίεσθε οἶνον· καὶ δοξάσατε τὸν κύριον ὑμῶν· καὶ ἔσεσθε ὑπακούοντες, θεῷ καὶ βασιλεῖ. 3 ἡμεῖς δὲ εἴπαμεν ὅτι, Οὐ παρακούομεν τὸν θεόν. 4 τότε ὀργισθεὶς ὁ βασιλεύς· ἔθετο ἡμᾶς ἐν φυλακῇ· καὶ ἤμεθα διανυκτερεύοντες τὴν νύκταν ἐκείνην. 5 καὶ ἰδοὺ φῶς ἔλαμψεν ἐν τῷ οἰκήματι, καὶ ἄγγελος ἀπεστέγασεν τὴν φυλακήν, καὶ ἐκράτησεν τῆς κορυφῆς ἡμῶν καὶ εἰσήγαγεν ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τῆς φυλακῆς· καὶ ἔθετο ἡμᾶς εἰς ἀέρα· καὶ ἤνεγκεν ἡμᾶς πρὸς τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦ ποταμοῦ, καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς ἡμᾶς· Ὅπου πορεύεται τὸ ὕδωρ πορεύεσθε καὶ ὑμεῖς. 6 καὶ ἐβαδίσαμεν σὺν τῷ ὕδατι καὶ σὺν τῷ ἀγγέλῳ. 7 ὅτε οὖν ἤνεγκεν ἡμᾶς πρὸς τὸν τόπον τοῦτον, ἐψύγη ὁ ποταμὸς καὶ ἀπώλετο τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ διερράγη ὁ τόπος· καὶ ἀνῆλθεν ὕδωρ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀβύσσου. 8 καὶ περιετείχισεν τὴν πατρίδα ταύτην, καὶ ἦλθεν τεῖχος νεφέλης καὶ ἐπεσκίασεν ἐπάνω τοῦ ὕδατος. 9 καὶ οὐ διέστησεν ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν, ἀλλ᾽ ἔδωκεν ἡμῖν τὴν πατρίδα ταύτην.10.1 "And the king said to us: 'You have done well. 2 "'Now, therefore, mingle with my people, and eat bread and drink wine; and glorify your Lord, and you will be obeying God and king.' 3 "But we said: 'We do not disobey God.' 4 "Then the king, having become angry, placed us in a guardhouse. And we were (there) through that night. 5 "And behold, a light shone in the house, and an angel unroofed the guardhouse, and seized our top and led us from the guardhouse. And he placed us in the air and brought us to the water of the river, and he said to us: 'Where the water goes, you also go.' 6 "And we walked with the water and with the angel. 7 "When then he brought us to this place, the river grew cold and the water was lost and the place was torn apart. And the water went up from the abyss. 8 "And he built a wall around this homeland, and a wall of cloud came and cast a shadow above the water. 9 "And he did not scatter us upon all the earth, but gave to us this homeland."
11.1 Ἀκούσατε ἀκούσατε, υἱοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, τὴν διοίκησιν τῶν μακάρων. 2 ἔθετο γὰρ ἡμᾶς ὁ θεὸς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ταύτης· καὶ γάρ ἐσμεν εὐσεβεῖς, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἀθάνατοι. 3 ἀνέτειλεν γὰρ ἡ γῆ καρπὸν εὐωδέστατον, καὶ ἐξέρχεται ἐκ τῶν κορμῶν τῶν δένδρων ὕδωρ γλυκὺ ὑπὲρ τὸ μέλι· καὶ ταῦτα ἡμῖν βρῶσις καί πόσις. 4 ἐσμὲν δὲ καὶ προσευχόμενοι νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας· πᾶσα δὲ ἡ σπουδὴ ἡμῶν τοῦτό ἐστιν. 5 ἀκούσατε υἱοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ὅτι παρ᾽ ἡμῖν ἄμπελος οὐκ ἔστιν· οὔτε ἄρουρα, οὔτε ἔργα ἐκ ξύλου, οὔτε σιδήρου· οὔτε οἶκός ἐστιν ἡμῖν, οὔτε οἰκοδομή, οὔτε πῦρ, οὔτε ξίφος· οὔτε ἀργὸς σίδηρος, οὔτε ἐργάσιμος· οὔτε ἀργύριον, οὔτε χρυσίον· οὔτε ἀὴρ βαρύτατος, οὔτε πικρότατος. 6 οὔτε εἰσὶν ἐξ ἡμῶν λαμβάνοντες ἑαυτοῖς γυναῖκας ἕως οὗ ποιήσωσιν δύο τέκνα. 7 καὶ μετὰ τὸ δύο τέκνα ποιῆσαι, ἀφίστανται ἀπ᾽ ἀλλήλων καὶ εἰσιν ἐν ἀγνείᾳ μὴ γινώσκοντες ὅτι ἦσάν ποτε ἐν συνηθείᾳ τοῦ γάμου· ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ὅτι ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς ἐν τῇ παρθενίᾳ ὑπάρχοντες. 8 μένει τὸ ἓν τέκνον εἰς τὸν γάμον, καὶ τὸ ἓν εἰς τὴν παρθενίαν.11.1 "Hear, hear, O sons of men, about the habitation of the blessed ones. 2 "For God placed us upon this earth; for we also are pious, but not immortal. 3 "For the land sprouted up most fragrant fruit, and water sweeter than honey comes out of the trunks of the trees, and these things (become) for us food and drink. 4 "We also are praying night and day; this is our entire pursuit. 5 "Hear, O sons of men, that with us there is no vine, neither cultivated field, nor works of wood or iron, nor is there a house for us, nor a building, nor fire, nor sword, nor unworked iron, nor worked, nor silver, nor gold, nor air most heavy or most bitter. 6 "Nor are there from us those who take to themselves wives, until they prodice two children. 7 "And after producing two children, they separate from each other and are in purity, not knowing that they were once in the intimacy of marriage, but as from the beginning existing in virginity. 8 "One of the children remains for marriage, and the other one for virginity."
12.1 καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀριθμὸς χρόνου, οὔτε ἐβδομάδες, οὔτε μῆνες, οὔτε ἐνιαυτός· πᾶσα γὰρ ἡ ἡμέρα ἡμῶν μία ἡμέρα ἐστίν. 2 ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν σπηλαίων ἡμῶν ἀπόκειται φύλλα τῶν δένδρων, καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ κοίτη ἡμῶν ὑποκάτω τῶν δένδρων. 3 οὐκ ἐσμὲν δὲ γυμνοὶ τῷ σώματι ὡς δὴ ἀλογίζεσθε ὑμεῖς· ἔχομεν γὰρ τὸ ἔνδυμα τῆς ἀθανασίας καὶ οὐκ αἰσχυνόμεθα ἀλλήλους. 4 ἐν δὲ τῇ ἕκτῃ ὥρᾳ ἐσθίομεν κατὰ πᾶσαν ἡμέραν· κατέρχεται γὰρ ὁ καρπὸς τοῦ δένδρου ἀφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ ἐν τῇ ἕκτῃ ὥρᾳ καὶ ἐσθίομεν πρὸς τὸν κόρον ἡμῶν καὶ πίνομεν. 5 καὶ πάλιν τὸ ὕδωρ διδύσκει εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτοῦ. 6 οἴδαμεν δὲ καὶ ὑμᾶς τοὺς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τῷ αὐτόθι καὶ τοὺς ἐν ἁμαρτίαις ὄντας καὶ τὰ ἔργα ὑμῶν· ὅτι καθ᾽ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν οἱ ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ ἔρχονται καὶ ἀπαγγέλλουσιν ἡμῖν καὶ τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῶν ἐτῶν ὑμῶν. 7 ἡμεῖς δὲ εὐχόμεθα ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν πρὸς τὸν κύριον, ὅτι καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐξ ὑμῶν ἐσμὲν καὶ ἐκ τοῦ γένους ὑμῶν ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι καὶ ἐξελέξατο ἡμᾶς ὁ θεός· καὶ ἔθετο ἡμᾶς ὁ θεὸς ἐν τῷ τόπῳ τούτῳ ἀναμαρτήτους. 8 καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ οἰκοῦσιν μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν κατὰ πᾶσαν ἡμέραν καὶ λέγουσιν ἡμῖν πάντα τὰ περὶ ὑμῶν· καὶ χαίρομεν μετὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων ἕνεκεν τῶν ἔργων τῶν δικαίων. 9 ἐπὶ δὲ τὰ ἔργα τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν λυπούμεθα, καὶ κλαίοντες προσευχόμεθα πρὸς κύριον, ἵνα παύσηται ἀπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς καὶ φείσηται τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ὑμῶν.12.1 "And there is no number of time, neither weeks, nor months, nor year; for our every day is one day. 2 "But leaves of the trees are laid away in our caves, and this is our bed under the trees. 3 "But we are not naked in body, as you wrongly think; for we have the garment of immortality and we are not ashamed before one another. 4 "In the sixth hour we eat every day; for the fruit of the tree comes down by itself in the sixth house and we eat to our fill and drink. 5 "And again the water sinks to its place. 6 "We know also you in the world there and those who are in sins, and your works, because daily the angels of God come and announce to us also the number of your years. 7 "But we beseech the Lord on your behalf, because we also are from you and from your race, but also because God commanded us, and God placed us in this sinless place. 8 "And the angels of God dwell with us daily and they tell us all things concerning you. And we rejoice with the angels for the sake of the works of the righteous. 9 "But we are grieved over the works of sinners, and weeping we pray to the Lord, that he might cease from anger and spare your sinners."
13.1 Ὅταν δὲ ἔλθῃ ὁ χρόνος τῆς τεσσαρακοστῆς πάντα παύονται τὰ δένδρα ἀπὸ τῶν καρπῶν. 2 καὶ βρέχει τὸ μάννα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὅπερ ἔδωκεν τοῖς πατράσιν ἡμῶν· ἔστιν δὲ τὸ μάννα ὑπὲρ τὸ μέλι γλυκύ. 3 καὶ οὕτως γινώσκομεν ὅτι ἐνήλλακται ὁ καιρὸς τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ. 4 ὅταν δὲ ἔλθῃ ὁ καιρὸς τοῦ ἁγίου πάσχα, τότε πάλιν ἀνατέλλει τὰ δένδρα τὸν καρπὸν τῆς εὐωδίας· καὶ οὕτως γινώσκομεν ὅτι ἀρχὴ ἐνιαυτοῦ ἐστίν. 5 ἡ δὲ ἑορτὴ τῆς ἀναστάσεως τοῦ κυρίου ἐν πολλῇ ἀγρυπνίᾳ ἐκτελεῖται· ἐσόμεθα γὰρ ἀγρυπνοῦντες ἡμέρας τρεῖς καὶ νύκτας τρεῖς.13.1 "But whenever the time of the forty (days) should come, all the trees cease from (their) fruits. 2 "And manna from heaven rains down, which he gave to our fathers. The manner is sweeter than honey. 3 "And so we know that the time of the year has changed. 4 "Whenever the time of the holy Passover should come, then again the tree send up the fragrant fruit, and so we know that it is the beginning of the year. 5 "But the feast of the resurrection of the Lord is accomplished with a great vigil; for we will keep vigil for three days and three nights."
14.1 οἴδαμεν δὲ καὶ τὸν χρόνον ἡμῶν τῆς τελειώσεως, οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν αἰκισμὸς καὶ βάσανος, οὐδὲ κόπος τῷ σώματι ἡμῶν, οὔτε ἀκηδία, οὔτε ἀρρώστημα· ἀλλ᾽ ἔστιν εἰρήνη καὶ ἀνεκτότης πολλὴ καὶ ἀγάπη. 2 οὔτε γὰρ ὀχλεῖται ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀγγέλων τοῦ ἐξελθεῖν· χαίρουσιν γὰρ οἱ ἄγγελοι ὅταν παραλαμβάνωσιν ἡμῶν τὰς ψυχάς· χαίρουσιν δὲ καὶ αἱ ψυχαὶ ἡμῶν σὺν τοῖς ἀγγέλοις ὅταν βλέπωσιν αὐτούς. 3 ὥσπερ ἐκδέχεται νύμφη τὸν νυμφίον· οὕτως ἐκδέχεται ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν τὸν εὐαγγελισμὸν τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων· οὐδὲν περισσὸν λέγοντες ἀλλ᾽ ἢ μόνον τοῦτο, Καλεῖ σε ὁ κύριος. 4 τότε ἡ ψυχὴ ἐξέρχεται ἐκ τοῦ σώματος, καὶ προσέρχεται τοῖς ἀγγέλοις· καὶ ἰδόντες τὴν ψυχὴν ἄσπιλον ἐξερχομένην, χαίρουσιν οἱ ἄγγελοι καὶ ἁπλώσαντες τὰς στολὰς αὐτῶν δέχονται αὐτήν. 5 τότε μακαριοῦσιν αὐτὴν οἱ ἄγγελοι λέγοντες· Μακαρία σὺ ψυχὴ ὅτι ἐπληρώθη τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν σοι.14.1 "We also know our time of consummation. For there is no discomfort or torment, nor trouble for our body, nor grief, nor sickness; but there is peace and much forbearance and love. 2 "For neither is our soul troubled by the angels to depart. For the angels rejoice whenever they should receive our souls. Our souls also rejoice with the angels, whenever they should see them. 3 "Just as a bride receives a groom, so our soul receives the happy news of the holy angels, saying nothing in excess, but only this: 'The Lord calls you.' 4 "Then the soul goes out of the body, and it goes to the angels. And having seen the soul going out with out blemish, the angels rejoice and stretching out their robes, they receive it. 5 "Then the angels bless it, saying: 'Blessed are you, soul, that the will of God was fulfilled in you.'"
15.1 ὁ δὲ χρόνος τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν οὗτός ἐστιν· 2 εἰ ἐν νεότητι ἐξερχόμενος ἐκ τοῦ σώματος, αἱ ἡμέραι τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῦ αἱ ἐντεῦθεν ἔτη τριακόσια ἑξήκοντα. 3 ὁ δὲ ἐν τῷ γήρει ἐξερχόμενος ἐκ τοῦ σώματος, αἱ ἡμέραι τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῦ αἱ ἐντεῦθεν ἔτη ἑπτακόσια ὀγδοήκοντα ὀκτώ. 4 δεδήλωται δὲ ἡμῖν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀγγέλων ἡ ἡμέρα τῆς συμπλρηώσεως ἡμῶν. 5 ὅτε δὲ ἔλθωσιν οἱ ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ λαβεῖν ἡμᾶς πορευόμεθα μετ᾽ αὐτῶν. 6 καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι ἰδόντες τοὺς ἀγγέλους συνάγουσιν πάντα τὸν λαόν, καὶ ἀπερχόμεθα μετὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων ψάλλοντες ἕως ἀπέλθωσιν οἱ ἄγγελοι ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον τῆς κατοικίας ἡμῶν. 7 διὰ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν ἡμᾶς σκεῦος οἱ ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ δι᾽ ἑαυτῶν ποιοῦσιν τὴν θήκην τοῦ σώματος ἡμῶν. 8 καὶ οὕτως κατέρχεται ὁ καλούμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, πάντες δὲ ἀσπαζόμεθα αὐτὸν ἀπὸ μικροῦ ἕως μεγάλου προπέμποντες καὶ συντασσόμενοι. 9 καὶ τότε ἡ ψυχὴ ἐξέρχεται ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος, καὶ ἀσπάζονται αὐτὴν οἱ ἄγγελοι. 10 ἡμεῖς δὲ θεωροῦμεν τὸ εἶδος τῆς ψυχῆς, ὡς εἶδος φωτὸς πεπληρωμένην καθ᾽ ὅλου τοῦ σώματος χωρὶς τοῦ ἄρσενος καὶ τῆς θηλείας.15.1 "And the time of our life is this: 2 "If in youth one goes out of the body, the days of his life here (are) three hundred-sixty years. 3 "But in in old age one goes out of the body, the days of his life here (are) seven hundred-eighty-eight years. 4 "The day of our completion has been declared to us from the angels. 5 "But when the angels of God should come to take us we go with them. 6 "And the elders, having seen the angels, gather all the people, and we go away with the angels, singing until the angels depart to the place of our habitation. 7 "On account that we do not have a vessel, the angels of God themselves make the casket for our body. 8 "And thus the one called by God goes down, but we all salute him, from the small to the great, sending him off and being instructed. 9 "And then the soul goes out from the body, and the angels salute it. 10 "We behold the form of the soul, as a form of light, filled completely of body, apart from male and female (characteristics)."
16.1 τότε οἱ ἄγγελοι ἀναλαμβάνοντες, ᾄδουσιν ᾆσμα καὶ ὕμνον ψάλλοντες τῷ θεῷ· καὶ πάλιν ἄλλα τάγματα τῶν ἀγγέλων μετὰ σπουδῆς ὑπαντῶσιν ἀσπαζόμενοι τὴν ψυχὴν τὴν προσερχομένην καὶ εἰσερχομένην εἰς τὰ στερεώματα. 2 καὶ ὅτε ἀπέλθῃ εἰς τὸν τόπον ἐν ᾧ δεῖ προσκυνεῖν τὸν θεόν· αὐτὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ μετὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων δέχεται τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ μάκαρος καὶ προσφέρει πρὸς τὸν ἄχραντον πατέρα τῶν αἰώνων. 3 καὶ πάλιν ὅταν ψάλλωσιν οἱ ἄγγελοι ἄνω, ἡμεῖς ὄντες κάτω ὑπακούομεν αὐτῶν· καὶ πάλιν ἡμεῖς ψάλλομεν, καὶ αὐτοὶ ὑπακούουσιν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἄνω. 4 καὶ οὕτως ἀνάμεσον ἡμῶν καὶ τῶν ἀγγέλων ἀνέρχεται ἡ δοξολογία τῆς ὑμνολογίας. 5 ὅτε δὲ ἡ ψυχή τοῦ μάκαρος πεσοῦσα ἐπὶ πρόσωπον προσκυνεῖ τὸν κύριον· τότε καὶ ἡμεῖς πεσόντες προσκυνοῦμεν τῇ αὐτῇ ὥρᾳ τὸν κύριον. 6 ὅτε δὲ ἀναστήσει αὐτὴν ὁ κύριος τότε καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀνιστάμεθα. 7 καὶ ὅτε ἀπέρχεται εἰς τὸν ὡρισμένον τόπον, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀπερχόμεθα ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ πληροῦντες τὴν εὐχαριστίαν τοῦ κυρίου. 8 ταῦτα γράψαντες καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν διοίκησιν τῶν μακάρων, ἐδώκαμεν τῷ ἀδελφῷ Ζωσίμῳ, καὶ προεπέμψαμεν αὐτὸν ἕως τοῦ τόπου τῶν δένδρων πρὸς τῷ ποταμῷ τῷ εὐμέλῃ.16.1 "Then the angels, while taking (it) up, chant a song and a hymn, singing to God. And again, other divisions of the angels with diligence meet, saluting the soul that has come to (them) and has entered the firmaments. 2 "And when it should come into the place in which it is necessary to worship God, the Son of God himself, with the angels, receives the soul of the blessed one and brings (it) to the undefiled Father of the ages. 3 "And again, whenever the angels above should sing, we who are below repond to them. And again we sing, and they in heaven above respond. 4 "And so between us and the angels the doxology of the hymnology ascends. 5 "But when the soul of the blessed on, having fallen on (its) face, worships the Lord, then we also, having fallen (on our faces), worship the Lord in that hour. 6 "But when the Lord will raise it up, then also we rise up. 7 "And when it arrives at the appointed place, we also arrived in the church, fulfilling the Eucharist of the Lord. 8 "These things having written, and all the habitation of the blessed, we gave to the brother Zosimos, and we sent him on to the place of the trees, at the river Eumeles."
17.1 ἐγὼ δὲ Ζώσιμος ἐδεήθη πάλιν τῶν μακάρων ἵνα δεηθῶσιν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ πρὸς τὸν κύριον, ἵνα δέξωνταί με τὰ δένδρα τοῦ περᾶσαι με. 2 καὶ κράξαντες πάντες πρὸς κύριον εἶπαν· Ὁ θεὸς ὁ δείξας ἡμῖν τὰ θαυμάσιά σου καὶ ποιήσας ἐλθεῖν τὸν δοῦλόν σου Ζώσιμον πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τῆς ματαιότητος· πάλιν ἀποκατάστησον αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτοῦ μετ᾽ εἰρήνης. 3 καὶ κέλευσον κλιθῆναι τὰ δένδρα ταῦτα καὶ ἀναλεμβεῖν τὸν δοῦλόν σου, καὶ στῆσαι αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ πέραν. 4 καὶ πληρωσάντων αὐτῶν τὴν εὐχήν, εὐθέως ἐκλίθησαν τὰ δένδρα ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν καὶ ἐδέξαντό με καθὰ καὶ τὸ πρώην. 5 καὶ σταθεὶς πέραν τοῦ ποταμοῦ, ἔκραξα φωνῇ μεγάλῃ καὶ εἶπον· Ἀνθρωποι τῆς δικαιοσύνης, οἱ ὄντες ἀδελφοὶ τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων, δότε μοι εὐχὴν μετ᾽ εἰρήνης· ἰδοὺ γὰρ πορεύομαι ἀφ᾽ ὑμῶν. 6 καὶ ποιήσαντες εὐχήν, ἔκραξαν πάντες λέγοντες· Εἰρήνη εἰρήνη σοι, ἀδελφέ.17.1 But I, Zosimos, beseeched again of the blessed ones, that they might beseech on my behalf to the Lord, in order that the trees should receive me, to take me across. 2 "And having called out, they all said to the Lord: "O God, who has shown to us your marvels and have made you servant Zosimos to come to us from the world of vanity, again return him to his place, with peace. 3 "And command these trees to bend down and transport you servant, and make him stand on the other side." 4 And when they had finished the prayer, immediately the trees bent down before them and received me, just as (they had) the first time. 5 And having stood across the river, I cried out with a loud voice and said: "Men of righteousness, who are brothers of the holy angels, give to me a prayer, with peace. For behold, I go from you." 6 And having made a prayer, they all cried out, saying: "Peace, peace to you, brother!"
18.1 τότε ηὐξάμην πρὸς κύριον καὶ ἦλθέν μοι λαῖλαψ τοῦ ἀνέμου καὶ ἔλαβέν με ἐπὶ τῶν πτερύγων αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἵλκυσέν με ἕως τοῦ τόπου οὗ ηὗρέν με καθήμενον· καὶ ἀνέλυσέν μετ᾽ εἰρήνης. 2 καὶ ἄρας φωνὴν εἶπεν πρός με ὁ ἄνεμος· μακάριος εἶ Ζώσιμε, ὅτι κατηριθμήθης μετὰ τῶν μακάρων. 3 καὶ ἦλθεν τὸ ζῷον ἐκ τῆς ἐρήμου ᾧ ὄνομα κάμηλος, καὶ ἔλαβέν με ἐπὶ τὸν τράχηλον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἤνεγκέν με ὀγδοήκοντα πέντε μονάς. 4 καὶ ἔθηκέν με εἰς τὸν τόπον οὗ ηὗρέν με προσευχόμενον. 5 καὶ ἀνέλυσεν ἐν εἰρήνῃ κράζων καὶ λέγων· μακάριος εἶ Ζώσιμε, ὅτι μετὰ τῶν μακάρων κατηριθμήθης.18.1 Then I prayed to the Lord and a storm of wind came to me and took me upon its wings, and drew me to the place where it found me seated. And it released me with peace. 2 And lifting (its) voice, the wind said to me: "You are blessed, Zosimos, because you were numbered with the blessed ones." 3 And the animal from the wilderness came, whose name (is) camel, and he received me on his neck, and brought me eighty-five stations. 4 And he set me at the place where he found me praying. 5 And he released me in peace, crying out and saying: "You are blessed, Zosimos, because you were numbered with the blessed ones."
19.1 ἰδὼν δέ με ἐγκωμιαζόμενον ὁ Σατανᾶς ἠθέλησεν πειρᾶσαι με καὶ ἀκοντίσαι ἀπὸ τῆς μονῆς. 2 ἦλθεν δὲ ἄγγελος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ εἶπέν μοι· Ζώσιμε, ἰδοὺ ἔρχεται ὁ Σατανᾶς πειρᾶσαι σε· ἀλλ᾽ ἔσται πολεμῶν ὑπέρ σου ὁ κύριος· ἡ γὰρ δόξα τῆς πίστεώς σου δεῖ σε ἔχειν τὸν Σατανᾶν. 3 καὶ ἐφάνη ἄγγελος τοῦ θεοῦ κράζων καὶ λέγων· Καλῶς ἐλήλυθας μάκαρ τοῦ χριστοῦ. 4 δεῦρο ἀπάξω σε ἐπὶ τὸ σπήλαιον τὸ γινόμενον κατοικητήριον τοῦ σώματός σου. 5 ἔσται γὰρ τὸ σπήλαιόν σου μαρτύριον τῆς ἐρήμου· ἴασις τῶν προσερχομένων ἀσθενῶν, πειρατήριον καὶ βάσανος τῶν δαιμόνων. 6 καὶ κρατήσας τῆς χειρός μου, ἐνίσχυσέν με, καὶ διήγαγέν με δι᾽ ἡμερῶν τεσσαράκοντα εἰς τὸ σπήλαιον, ἐν ᾧ ἤμην κατοικῶν. 7 καὶ ἐγενήθη τράπεζα δικαιοσύνης, καὶ ἤμην αὐλιζόμενος μετὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων τοῦ θεοῦ. 8 ἔθηκα δὲ τὰς πλάκας τὰς δοθείσας μοι ἀπὸ τῶν ἁγίων μακάρων ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τοῦ ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ μου.19.1 But Satan, having seen me extolled, wished to tempt me and to hurl me from the station. 2 But an angel of God came and said to me: "Zosimos, behold, Satan comes to tempt you. But the Lord will be at war on your behalf, for the gory of your faith requires that you hold (back) Satan." 3 And an angel of God appeared, crying out and saying: "Welcome, blessed of Christ! 4 "Come, I will lead you to the cave that becomes a habitaton for your body. 5 "For your cave will be a witness in the wilderness, a healing of the sick who come, a place of trial and torment for the demons." 6 And having seized my hand, he strengthened me, and led me through (the wilderness) for forty days into the cave, in which I had been dwelling. 7 And it became a table of righteousness, and I was passing the night with the angels of God. 8 I placed the tablets, which had been given to me from the holy blessed ones, upon the platform of the altar, which was in my cave.
20.1 καὶ ἰδοὺ ἀναβάντων τῶν ἀγγέλων τοῦ θεοῦ, παρεγένετο ὁ διάβολος σχῆμα ἔχων ἄγριον καὶ θυμοῦ ἀγόμενος καὶ χολῆς. 2 εἶπεν πρός με· Ἐγὼ ᾔδειν ὅτι οὕτως ποιῆσαί σε εἶχεν ὁ θεὸς ὡς καὶ τοὺς μάκαρας· καὶ ἔχουσιν εἶναι ἀναμάρτητοι, καὶ εἶναι αὐτοὺς ὑπὲρ τοὺς ἀγγέλους. 3 καὶ διὰ τοῦτο εἰσήνεγκα διάνοιαν πονηράν, καὶ εἰσῆλθον εἰς τὸ σκεῦος τοῦ ὄφεως πανούργως πρὸς πανοῦργον. 4 καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐποίησα παραβῆναι τὸν Ἀδὰμ τὸν πρῶτον ἄνθρωπον γεύσασθαι αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς, ἐπειδὴ δὲ παρήγγειλεν αὐτὸν ὁ θεὸς μὴ φαγεῖν ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ, ἵνα ἔμεινεν ἴσος τῆς δόξης τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων. 5 καὶ σὺ πάλιν ἀπελθὼν ἤνεγκας τὴν ἐντολὴν ταύτην, 6 ἵνα μὴ ὦσιν ἀναμάρτητοι, ἐγώ σοι δείξω πῶς ἀπολέσω σε, καὶ πάντας τοὺς δεχομένους τὴν ἐντολὴν ταύτην, ἵνα μὴ ὦσιν ἀναμάρτητοι καὶ τὴν βίβλον ἣν ἤνεγκας.20.1 And behold, when the angels of God ascended, the devil came alongside, having a wild form and overtaken with rage and bile. 2 He said to me: "I knew that God thus would do for you, as (he had) also for the blessed ones. They are able to be sinless, and to be above the angels. 3 "And for this reason I brought an evil thought and I entered the vessel of the serpent deceitfully towards a deceitful one. 4 "And for this reason I made Adam the first man to transgress, that he might tast from the Tree of Life, since God had commanded him not to eat from it, in order that he might remain equal to the glory of God and of the holy angels. 5 "And you again, having gone away, brought (back) this commandment, 6 "in order that they might be sinless. I will show you how I will destroy you, and all those who receive this commandment, in order they may not be sinless, and (how I will destroy) the book that you brought (back)."
21.1 καὶ ταῦτα εἰπὼν ὁ διάβολος ἐπορεύθη ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ. 2 καὶ μεθ᾽ ἡμέρας ὀκτὼ συνήγαγεν μεθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ χιλίους τριακοσίους ἑξήκοντα δαίμονας· καὶ ἥρπασέν με ἀπὸ τοῦ σπηλαίου προσευχόμενον. 3 καὶ ἔτυπτόν με σφαιρίζοντες ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ἡμέρας τεσσαράκοντα. 4 καὶ μετὰ τὰς τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας ἔκλαυσεν ὁ διάβολος ἔμπροσθέν μου καὶ εἶπεν· Οὐαί μοι, ὅτι δι᾽ ἕνα ἄνθρωπον τὸν κόσμον ἀπώλεσα· ἐνίκησέν με γὰρ διὰ τῆς προσευχῆς αὐτοῦ. 5 καὶ ἤρξατο τρέχειν ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ· ἐγὼ δὲ κρατήσας αὐτὸν ἔστησα καὶ εἶπον· Οὐ μὴ ἀποδράσῃς καὶ φύγῃς ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ, ἕως οὗ ὀμόσῃς μοι τοῦ μηκέτι ἄνθρωπον πειρᾶσαι. 6 καὶ κλαύσας κλαυθμῷ μεγάλῳ καὶ βιαίῳ ὤμοσέν μοι ἐπὶ τῷ στερεώματι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ· Ἕως οὗ ἡ κατοικία σοῦ ἐστι καὶ μετά σε οὐ μὴ ἀπέλθω ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον ἐκεῖνον. 7 τότε ἀπέλυσα αὐτὸν ἐκπέμψας εἰς τὸ αἰώνιον πῦρ καὶ τοὺς μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ δαίμονας. 8 τότε ἦλθεν ὁ ἄγγελος ὁ συνευδοκήσας μοι ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης καὶ ἤγαγέν με ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ μου, μετὰ δόξης πολλῆς.21.1 And having said these things, the devil went from him. 2 And after eight days, he brought one thousand-three hundred and sixty demons with him and dragged me away from the cave, while praying. 3 And they were beating me, playing (with me as a ball) among themselves for forty days. 4 And after the forty days the devil wept before me and said: "Woe to me, that because of one man I lost the world; for he conquered by through his prayer!" 5 And he began to run from, but I, seizing him, stood and said: "In no wise will you escape and flee from me, until you swear to me, to tempt no longer a human." 6 And having wept with great lamentation and force, he swore to me upon the firmaments of heaven: "So long as you habitation exists and (is) with you, in no wise will I go away to that place." 7 Then I released him, sending (him) to the eternal fire, and his demons with him. 8 The the angel who had sympathized with me at the table came and led me to my cave, with much glory.
22.1 ἔζησα δὲ μετὰ τοῦτο ἔτη τριάκοντα ἕξ, καὶ διέδωκα τὴν διοίκησιν τῶν μακάρων, τοῖς πατράσιν τοῖς ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ. 2 ἔκλαυσεν δὲ ὁ διάβολος διὰ τὰς πλάκας τῆς διοικήσεως τῶν μακάρων· Ὅτι ἐὰν περιέλθῃ τοῦτο ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ γέγονα κατάγελως. καὶ οὗτοι μένουσιν ἀναμάρτητοι· κἀγὼ μόνος ἐν τῇ μωρίᾳ. 3 καὶ μετὰ τὴν συμπλήρωσιν τῶν τριάκοντα ἓξ ἐτῶν, παρεγένοντο οἱ ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ πρός με καθάπερ καὶ πρὸς τοὺς μάκαρας. 4 συνήχθησαν δὲ πάντες οἱ μοναχοὶ καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἀκούσας· καὶ ἀνεγνώσθη ἐπὶ πάντων ἡ διαθήκη αὕτη. 5 καὶ ἐν τῇ τοιαύτῃ πολιτείᾳ παρέδωκεν τὴν ψυχὴν τῷ θεῷ.22.1 I lived after this thirty-six years, and I passed on the habitation of the blessed ones to the fathers who (live) in the wilderness. 2 But the devil wept on account of the tablets of the habitation of the blessed ones: "If this should come into the world, I have become a laughingstock. And these ones remain sinless, and I (will be) alone in the foolishness." 3 And after the completion of thirty-six years, the angels of God appeared to me, just as also (they appear) to the blessed ones. 4 All the monks and all who heard were gathered together, and this covenant was read to all. 5 And in such conduct he gave up (his) soul to God.
23.1 ἐγὼ δὲ Κρύσεως εἷς ὤν τῶν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἐκβαλὼν ἔδωκα πᾶσιν τοῖς θέλουσιν μανθάνειν καὶ ὠφελεῖσθαι. 2 οἱ οὖν ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ συνεκόμισαν τὸ σῶμα τοῦ ἁγίου Ζωσίμου ὡς πολύτιμον δῶρον. 3 καὶ ἐθεασάμην τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ μακαρίου, ὑπὲρ τὸν ἥλιον πεφωτισμένην ἑπταπλασίως. 4 ἀνέβησαν δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον παραχρῆμα φοίνικες ἑπτά, καὶ ἐπεσκίασαν τὸ σπήλαιον. 5 ἀνέβη δὲ καὶ πηγὴ ὕδατος ἐπὶ τοῦ τόπου ἐκείνου ὕδωρ ἅγιον· καὶ ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης ἴασις καὶ σωτηρία πάντων τῶν προσερχομένων ἀσθενῶν. 6 εἰρήνη πᾶσιν τοῖς ἀκούουσιν τὴν μνήμην τοῦ ἁγίου Ζωσίμου. 7 ἔστιν δὲ ὁ κύριος συνήγορος καὶ ὄφελος πάντων εἰς τοὺς ἀτελευτήτους αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων· ἀμήν.23.1 And I, Kryseos, being one of those in the wilderness, having dispatched (the covenant), gave (it) to all those who wish to learn and receive benefit. 2 Then the angels of God carried the body of the blessed Zosimos as a precious gift. 3 And I beheld the soul of the blessed one, seven-fold brigher than the sun. 4 Seven palm branches immediately ascended over the place, and they overshadowed the cave. 5 And a well of water sprang up at that place -- holy water. And to this day (it is) healing and salvation for all the sick who come. 6 Peace to all who hear the memorial of the holy Zosimos. 7 The Lord is an advocate and a gain of all, to the unending ages of the ages. Amen.

Refer also to James H. Charlesworth, Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, volume 2, pages 443-461.
ΤΙ ΕΣΤΙΝ ΑΛΗΘΕΙΑ
User avatar
Ben C. Smith
Posts: 8994
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 2:18 pm
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: The Rechabites.

Post by Ben C. Smith »

The vow which the Rechabites supposedly took certainly resembles that of a (lifelong) Nazirite (nothing about the hair, though):

Jeremiah 35.6-11: 6 But they said, “We will not drink wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab [בֶּן־רֵכָב, υἱὸς Ρηχαβ], our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall not drink wine, you or your sons, forever. 7 You shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed and you shall not plant a vineyard or own one; but in tents you shall dwell all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ 8 We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab [בֶּן־רֵכָב], our father, in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons or our daughters, 9 nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; and we do not have vineyard or field or seed. 10 We have only dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and have done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11 But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come and let us go to Jerusalem before the army of the Chaldeans and before the army of the Arameans.’ So we have dwelt in Jerusalem.”

Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 91b: 91b .... “These were the potters and those who dwelt among plantations and hedges; there they dwelt, occupied in the king’s work” (= 1 Chronicles 4.23). “These were the potters [היוצרים].” These are the sons of Jonadab, son of Rechab, who kept [שנצרו] their father’s oath. ....

John Bright, Jeremiah (Anchor Bible), pages 190-191: The Rechabite vow is in its major features clearly reminiscent of life in the desert. This is certainly true of their refusal to till the soil or live in houses, and probably of their abstinence from wine as well, viticulture doubtless being regarded by them as a symbol of the sedentary life which they rejected. The Rechabites were thus a clan who by their manner of life symbolized their renunciation of the agrarian and urban culture to which their nation had long since assimilated, and who expressed their loyalty to Yahweh and to their ancestor’s wishes by clinging to the simple seminomadic life of their remote forefathers. The founder of this clan, Jonadab ben Rechab, is known from II Kings x 15-17 as one who had physically assisted Jehu in his bloody purge of the house of Ahab in the ninth century. Apparently the excesses of Ahab and Jezebel, their importation of the worship of the Tyrian Baal, together with the progressive urbanization of Israelite society then taking place and the attendant disintegration of social patterns, had awakened in many minds both revulsion and a nostalgia for the traditions and simpler ways of the past. Some — and Jonadab was one of them (the great prophet Elijah, in his own way, was another) — had consciously returned to ancient patterns of life in protest against the prevailing decay, both social and religious. The history of the Rechabites prior to the ninth century cannot be traced. If they were of Kenite origin (I Chron ii 55), they stemmed from a people who claimed kinship with Moses (Judg i 16), and who for a long time after Israel’s settlement continued their seminomadic life both in the southern desert (I Sam xv 6), and within Israelite territory itself (Judg iv 17; v 24). The fact that the Rechabite vow is in some respects similar to that of the Nazirite almost certainly indicates some connection between the two (as we learn from Num vi the Nazirite vow forbade not only the drinking of wine, but the use of the produce of the vine in any form, whether grapes or raisins, grape juice or vinegar). The Nazirite vow had had a long history in Israel, reaching back to the days of the conquest and the judges (Samson [Judg xiii 4-7], and apparently Samuel [I Sam i 11] were Nazirites), and may well have originally symbolized opposition to Canaanite culture as well as ritual fitness to fight the holy wars of Yahweh.

This resemblance may well be why they appear in the story of the martyrdom of James, whom Hegesippus paints in Nazirite colors:

Eusebius, History of the Church 2.23.4b-6a: 4b “He was holy from the womb of his mother. 5 He drank no wine nor strong drink, nor did he eat flesh. No razor came upon his head; he did not anoint himself with oil, and he did not use the bath. 6 He alone was permitted to enter into the holy place; for he wore not woolen but linen garments.”

On a side note, for about two decades now, whenever I read about the Rechabites, I tend to think of these guys:

Medjai in The Mummy Returns (2001).png
Medjai in The Mummy Returns (2001).png (524.38 KiB) Viewed 7229 times
Last edited by Ben C. Smith on Sun May 09, 2021 8:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
StephenGoranson
Posts: 2308
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2015 2:10 am

Re: The Rechabites.

Post by StephenGoranson »

As you may know, Ben, this year in Hugoye, there’s a review by Grigory Kessel of J.-C. Haelewyck, ed., Histoire de Zosime sur la vie des Bienheureux Réchabites: les versions orientales et leurs manuscrits
https://hugoye.bethmardutho.org/review/hv23n1prkessel
User avatar
Ben C. Smith
Posts: 8994
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 2:18 pm
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: The Rechabites.

Post by Ben C. Smith »

StephenGoranson wrote: Mon Sep 28, 2020 1:58 am As you may know, Ben, this year in Hugoye, there’s a review by Grigory Kessel of J.-C. Haelewyck, ed., Histoire de Zosime sur la vie des Bienheureux Réchabites: les versions orientales et leurs manuscrits
https://hugoye.bethmardutho.org/review/hv23n1prkessel
I did not know that. Thanks!
ΤΙ ΕΣΤΙΝ ΑΛΗΘΕΙΑ
User avatar
billd89
Posts: 1347
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2020 6:27 pm
Location: New England, USA

Re: The Rechabites/Therapeutae.

Post by billd89 »

Forgive me if this is inappropriate (?), I'm lifting a Reply from 20-year old thread on a different listserv; it contains some very intriguing points (not that I agree with all his assumptions or conclusions!). The subject is a possible connection between the Rechabites and Therapeutae. fwiw, the thread shifted to unrelated/different matters and the Poster's 'Speculations' died on the vine. Hence, its importation and hopefully topical resurrection here. (I see a frequent poster referenced, and here is a related thread.)

This note is as much for my own future reference as general interest.

In DVC, Philo clearly states 'the Therapeutae' were an agglomeration of different sects; individual members of brotherhoods/fellowships that visited the colony at Lake Mareotis, at a site west of Alexandria. Among other practices, he mentions/emphasizes certain "Mosaic traditions"; scholars have elsewhere noted his own stated youthful participation in a Mosaic cult, logically presuming he had an earlier connection to that sect. Though unproven (as far as I've read, anywhere), I believe the group is the "Sons of God" which Philo discusses in a number of his other works. (What the Jewish fellowship was ACTUALLY called I don't pretend to know: Philo codes many specifics in his writings, deliberate mystification for various reasons we can only guess at today.) Of course, this was only one specific fraternity - presumably, a very important & powerful one, if a young man as rich and privileged as Philo had joined. There must have been other sects, both before and after Philo's day - even beyond his knowledge or admission. At DVC 3.29, he says "They have also "writings of ancient men, who having been the founders of one sect or another have left behind them many memorials of the allegorical system of writing and explanation, whom they take as a kind of model, and imitate the general fashion of their sect..." which presupposes multiple sects, co-existing.

In Philo's 'Therapeutae' (a sanitized description: they never argue w/ each other??) I also see a bias towards literate, affluent, cosmopolitan Jews. These are NOT the stark-raving sober wild-men, mad preachers of the desert wilderness. So I wonder if the Rechabites were 'same-same but different' - actually related? This Reply Contributor (below) thinks so. He's all-over-the-map on the topic - sorry: my opinion (I may be accused of the same) - yet I do suppose he's (maybe) getting at an underlying truth here.

I think the Therapeutae - in the broadest understanding of the term - included 'sober desert ascetics'. That particular sub-group of Jews are equivalent 'St. Anthony' types, smelly John the Baptist wild-men. Bands(?) of these 'Sons of the Sober' were known as Rechabites near Midian, elsewhere?

My own hunch/ reaching hypothesis: such desert hermit-healers c.150 BC evolved into "Ophites" in the Negev and Eastern Desert, 100 AD. Why? Serpent handlers were medicine-men. They were mostly loner types, so I can't imagine any strong fraternity developing before 70 AD. After 68 AD, many refugee scribes may have fled into wilderness, joined their mobile encampments, and composed Gnostic philosophical diatribes out of their outcast, hobo-jungle histories. Later, as such literate 'Therapeuts' rejoined society 80-90 AD, queer new myths were born and proliferated. If Rechabites were only less-literate, rural, itinerant preachers, occupying a distant region (rather than across the Diaspora) and at one time (not over generations), then they probably woukd have disappeared without an impact. But the Bible isn't telling us that, is it? Obviously, Philo isn't identifying ALL Therapeutae with a sect such as I've just hypothecated. But c.25 AD, the Therapeutae are already found in every nome of Egypt, and indeed every nation - if Rechabites were actually more dignified than I'm assuming, perhaps they ARE the Therapeuts, one-and-the-same!

At the very least, they are declared sober 'Mosaic' Jews (with a Melchizedek tradition, the Respondent implies), scribes and ascetics ... hmmm! There's certainly a lot to investigate further from the OP's speculations.

Link
...

If we look at the "big picture", we learn some interesting things about Rechabites and about Essenes. There are certain similarities about what they were inclined to do in terms of ascetic rituals, and how they interacted with each other. And we learn that the Rechabites themselves come from an even older tradition of the Kenites, who were the sub-group of the Midianites that provided Moses with his wife.

[Beginning of Purly Speculative Exposition:]
In various parts of the bible and rabbinic traditions, we learn that Moses married a Kenite woman. Had two sons. We continue to follow this trail of Moses and his two sons. The sons become connected with the priesthood that served the tribe of Dan - after all, the sons of Moses are certainly as qualified for the priesthood as the sons of Aaron. Moses himself is said to have spent the rest of his life celibate. Why? Was this Kenite influence?

On a parallel track, we learn that a related group of Kenites become attached to the Israelite community. And out of this group we learn that some of the sons and some of the daughters marry into the Aaronic priesthood, by marrying the daughters and sons of the high priests.

We further learn that a group of Kenites, of the House of Rechab, pledge themselves to pursue an ascetic life of living in tents (though caves are not prohibited), not raising crops, and avoiding wine. This could be the group that RESULTED form the fusion of Kenites with the children of high priests. Or from this group we might have obtained "suitable" sons and daughters to marry the sons and daughters of the High Priests. More research is needed here.

We also learn that the Rechabites, in three groups, become scribal families for the Israelites. By this time, based on the book of Chronicles, these Rechabites have become linked to the tribe of Judah. Thus, by intermarriage and descent, they are Israelite and Judah-ite.

And we also learn in the books of Chronicles that various temple and Levite functions seem to fall into specific clans, including the one traceable son of Moses, and these Rechabites.

At the time of schism between Israel and Judah, some of the Dan-ite priests (of the son of Moses), migrate to serve the temple at Jerusalem. There appears to be some conflict between the "Levites of Moses" and the "Levites of Aaron". But it does look like the Levites of Moses are provided a living as part of the Levite class, rather than as the higher priestly class. But isn't clear that the Rechabite members of the Levites are so restricted since, as we have already been told the Rechabite lineage has been preserved within the priestly lines through intermarriage.

But the question now remains as to how much interaction these two "Kenite" groupings might have with each other. One group is simply Kenite-and-Levites-of-Moses. The other group is Kenite-and-Rechabite-and-Priestly. More research is needed here.

Then there is the Maccabean conflict. Hasidim "appear" and join with a priestly clan to resist the Greeks. I suggest that these Hasidim come from the more pious families of the Rechabites. They are already wilderness dwellers. They are already zealous (as per the Old Testament story of the Rechabites).

Before the wars begin in earnest, the son of the Honias high priestly clan moves to Egypt, and presumably takes along a large continent since a NEW temple is to be built (one not defiled by the Greeks). Do some of these travelers to Egypt include Rechabite priestly families? Why not? Can't be sure. More research MIGHT help here.

After the wars, the Hasidim/Rechabites and some priestly warriors remain in the wilderness. Perhaps "The Staff", or the Teacher of Righteousness (if this is a separate person), has figured out how to continue to strengthen the numbers of the wildnerness Hasidim, by using the Rechabite tradition of "adopting the children of others" to replenish those numbers not provided by sustained sexual relations (see Josephus on how the Essenes are said to have existed for AGES and yet discourage marriage and encourage celibacy - even between husband and wife).

These "soldier Rechabites" eventually might be considered as what we would call the Essenes. It is a highly ascetic, hierarchical organization of camps and communities, influenced by decades of waging war against heathen, and borrowing heavily from the effective traditions of the zealous Rechabites that already inhabited the wilderness.

In Egypt, Rechabite clans that moved to sustain the new Temple, were not so affected by all this militarism. While they COULD be said to be Essenes, no one in any work has ever said that Essenes existed in Egypt. But what they do say is that an "ancient" race, called the Therapeautae, HAVE appeared in Egypt (an ANCIENT group, but which is characterized as still moving into the region). Interestingly enough, the Aramaic word linked to the Essenes is "healer" and the Greek word linked to the Therapeautae is "healer" (though I am NOT suggesting a cause and effect relationship of the true source for the term Essene. Some puns are coincidence and others are not.).

The Therapeautae are highly ascetic, in virtually identical ways that the Essenes are. But they are NOT Essenes. They only come from the same stock as the Essenes.... as Eisenman would say, the "proto-Essene" Rechabites.

Later, out of the less militaristic tradition of the Egyptian Rechabites, we learn that Joseph, Mary and Jesus spend several years in Egypt. And a group that sounds an AWFUL lot like the Therapeautae is frequently confused by the Church Fathers as connected to Christianity, a sect which interestingly enough, is hostile to the Pharisees in some ways similar to the hostility the Palestine Rechabites (the Essenes) have for the Pharisees (and in some ways not). More research is needed.

[End of Speculation]

Wildly speculative? Absolutely! And so I will discontinue this thread (unless specific questions are asked of me) for now. I will find the texts that make each link feasible and rational. I will not ask you to accept these ideas at this point. But the efforts of some to hopeless confuse the issues between Therapeutae, Essenes and Rechabites needed to be addressed with a theory that keeps the sub-threads sufficiently distinct that we can profitably explore the individual ideas, and see where each one might lead us.

But I do ask Dave Hindley one question before I sign off on the Rechabite/Therapeautae thread:

Just because the Therapeut's practiced an ascetic tradition not required of Jewish Priests, does not discount the possibility that they practiceda tradition required of RECHABITE PRIESTS and LEVITES.
...
Thanks for your patience with this "difficult" thread.

George B.

Drunk Hellenistic Jews get naughty (pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization, disgustingly even dangerously anti-social, etc.) - then repent, become sober healers? How, you might ask: climb the Ladder, find God, etc. Gosh, we need a Program for that ...

Sounds like a story teetotaler J.D. Rockefeller Jr. might have bankrolled and their Refugee Scholar Dr. Ludwig Edelstein might have written about at Johns Hopkins, in 1938. And that also might (partly) explain the huge $150,000 grant which the Institute of the History of Medicine received on 1/10/1938: quid pro quo. Keep it Anonymous!

Image
User avatar
billd89
Posts: 1347
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2020 6:27 pm
Location: New England, USA

Re: Levites as Egyptian Priests of the Great Serpent

Post by billd89 »

This is an intriguing line of thought - that Levites (in Egypt) were priests of the Great Serpent in Egypt (c.800 BC?)

See Scott Noegel, "The Egyptian Origin of the Ark of the Covenant" in Thomas E. Levy, Thomas Schneider, and William H.C. Propp (eds.), Israel's Exodus in Transdisciplinary Perspective. Text, Archaeology, Culture, and Geoscience [2015], p.238, n76:

“According to the Hebrew Bible, Aaron’s rod stood near the Ark (Numbers 17:1), though a tradition found in the New Testament (Hebrews 9:4) places the rod inside the Ark. Nevertheless, much like the Ark itself, the wonders ascribed to it, including its transformation into a serpent (Exodus 7:10) and its blossoming and production of almonds (Numbers 17:8), convey a sense of chthonic power and fertility. Its transformation into a serpent has parallels in Egyptian magical praxis. See Noegel (1997). The parallels to Egyptian magic and the comparative evidence gathered in this essay suggest that the Levites possessed at least some knowledge of Egyptian religious practices. It long has been observed that several individuals connected to the early Israelite priesthood possessed Egyptian names, including Assir, Hofni, Pinehas, Hor, Merari, and of course Moses. See already Noth (1928: pp.63-4). Some have opined that the name Aaron too is Egyptian. See Spencer (1992) and Muchiki (1999). If one concedes that the Levites possessed knowledge of Egyptian religion, might it also be that the solar bark’s encounter with the great serpent Apep informs the Israelite conception of the great serpent Leviathan (also called tannın)? Not only is this creature identified with the Pharaoh (Ezekiel 29:3, 32:2), but its dismemberment by Yahweh is credited with enabling the Israelites to cross the Reed Sea (Isaiah 51:9-10). In Exodus 7:10, Aaron’s staff becomes a tannın before devouring the serpent-staffs of the Egyptian magicians. Moreover, Ritner (1993: pp.165-7) has discussed how Egyptian priests employed rituals to ensure the safe nightly passage of the solar bark. These rites involved paralyzing Apep by severing, burning, or otherwise destroying an effigy of the serpent. No such rite is attested in the Hebrew Bible. However, the many references to the great serpent as an enemy of Yahweh and the role that priests played in maintaining cosmic order through ritual suggest that perhaps we should read more into the etymological connection between the priestly tribe of ‘Levi’ and the ‘Leviathan’ (the etymological connection was first suggested to me by the late Cyrus H. Gordon). As many have pointed out, Psalms 74:13-14 refers to the beast as having multiple heads and, thus, more akin to the multi-headed creature lotan in Ugaritic texts (e.g., CAT 1.5 I 1-8) and artistic representations from Arslan Tash and Diyala. Nevertheless, some representations of chaos serpents in Egypt also have multiple heads. See, e.g., the panel in the tomb of Tuthmosis III (KV 34, chamber J, right wall) that depicts the falcon-headed Sokar overpowering a many-headed chaos serpent in a cave during the fifth hour of the Amduat. Moreover, the aforementioned passage in Psalm 74 is followed rather fittingly with chaotic water and solar imagery in vv.15-16 with: “You broke the springs and the torrents, you dried ever-flowing streams. To you belongs day and also night, you have prepared the light and the sun.” I also note that Isaiah 27 opens by referencing the punishment of Leviathan (v.1) and concludes with Yahweh threshing his enemies (v.12). Additional evidence for the Levitical association with serpents appears in Numbers 21:8-9, in which Moses cures the people of snake bites by fashioning a bronze serpent, and in the later mention that the priests had allowed the item to be venerated until Hezekiah destroyed it (2 Kings 18:4).


William Blake's 'Moses Erecting the Brazen Serpent' c.1802:
Image

Emil Doepler's Norse Thor battles the Jörmungandr/Midgard Serpent (9th C AD? Myth) c.1905:
Image

Der Arnold as Conan the Cimmerian (Crimean) in 1982:
Post Reply