Texts in Conversation
Revelation’s description of a heavenly city made of gold is similar to Rabbinic tradition in Genesis Rabbah, which interprets God bringing Abram “outside” as lifting him above the solid firmament where the stars are, also described as a heavenly city.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Revelation 21:21
New Testament
18 The city’s wall is made of jasper and the city is pure gold, like transparent glass. 19 The foundations of the city’s wall are decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation is jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates are twelve pearls—each one of the gates is made from just one pearl! The main street of the city is pure gold, like transparent glass. 22 Now I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God—the All-Powerful—and the Lamb are its temple.
Genesis Rabbah 44:12
Aggadah
Rabbinic
“He took him outside, and said: Look now to the heavens, and count the stars, if you can count them, and He said to him: So will your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5). “He took him outside” – Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin in the name of Rabbi Levi: Did He take him outside the world, that the verse should say: “He took him outside [haḥutza]”? Rather, he showed him the streets of the heavens, just as it says: “While He had not yet made earth and the outer ranges [ḥutzot]” (Proverbs 8:26). Rabbi Yehuda said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: He took him up above the dome of the heavens. That is what He said to him: “Look [habet] now to the heavens” – [the expression] habata refers only to looking from above to below. The Rabbis say: [God told him:] ‘You are a prophet, not an astrologer,’ as it is stated: “Now, restore the man's wife, as he is a prophet” (Genesis 20:7). In the days of Jeremiah, Israel sought to adopt this mindset, but the Holy One blessed be He did not allow them to do so. That is what is written: “So said the Lord: Do not learn the way of the nations, and from the signs of the heavens do not fear…” (Jeremiah 10:2) – your forefather Abraham sought to adopt that mindset, but I did not allow him to do so. Rabbi Levi said: [The saying goes:] While your sandal is on your foot, trample the thorns. Anyone who is situated below them [the stars] fears them, but you, who are situated above them, trample them. Rabbi Yudan said in the name of Rabbi Elazar: There are three things that can annul evil decrees, and they are: Prayer, charity, and repentance. And the three of them are stated in one verse. That is what is written: “My people upon whom My name is called humble themselves, and pray” (II Chronicles 7:14) – this is prayer; “and seek My presence” (II Chronicles 7:14) – this is charity, as you say: “I shall encounter Your presence through charity” (Psalms 17:15); “and repent from their evil ways” (II Chronicles 7:14) – this is repentance. And following these, “I will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (II Chronicles 7:14). Rabbi Huna bar Rav Yosef said: Change of name and a good deed also [can annul evil decrees.] Change of name, we learn from Abraham: “Your name will no longer be called Abram” (Genesis 17:5). A good deed, we learn from the people of Nineveh, as it is stated: “God saw their actions, that they turned away [from their evil ways, and God relented of the disaster that he had said]…” (Jonah 3:10). Some say: Change of location, as well, as it is stated: “The Lord said to Abram: Go you [from your land]” (Genesis 12:1). Rabbi Muna said: A fast as well, as it is stated: “May the Lord answer you on a day of trouble” (Psalms 20:2). Rava bar Maḥasya and Rabbi Ḥama ben Guryon said in the name of Rav: A fast is as effective against a [bad] dream as fire is against chaff. Rav Yosef said: [Only if the fast is done] on that same day, even if it is on Shabbat.
Date: 500 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Tags:
Search:
Notes and References
"... Genesis Rabbah (44:12) also interprets the reference to YHWH bringing Abram 'outside' in an overtly cosmological manner, in a way that appears both to presuppose and to censure his use of astrology outright (Such an interpretation of the lifting above the firmament is, in fact, represented in the so-called Midrash Aggadah of Solomon Buber (based on a Mediaeval manuscript from Aleppo), which explicitly says (ad loc.) that although most humans are "under their constellation" (bënê ädäm tahat mazzäläm) which 'therefore judges them' (lëpikäk hammazzäl dän ötäm), Abra(ha)m is "above the dome of the firmament, in which the constellations are" (lëmalá mikktppat häräqta sehammazzäl säm), and therefore, presumably, exempt from astrological influence) ..."
Wikander, Ola
"Go Out from Your Sign": Rashi to Genesis 15:5 as a Reference to Astrological Primary Direction - Its Background in Rabbinic Literature and Parallels in Abraham bar Hiyya
(pp. 1-5) Old Testament Essays Vol.33, No. 3, 2020
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.