Texts in Conversation
In Jonah, the prophet prays from the belly of the fish and says his prayer reaches God’s temple. Rabbinic tradition in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer expands this into a tour of the underworld, taking Jonah to the Foundation Stone beneath the Jerusalem Temple.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Jonah 2:7
Hebrew Bible
6 I went down to the very bottoms of the mountains; the gates of the netherworld barred me in forever, but you brought me up from the Pit, O Lord, my God. 7 When my life was ebbing away, I called out to the Lord. And my prayer came to you, to your holy temple. 8 Those who worship worthless idols forfeit the mercy that could be theirs.
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 10:9
Rabbinic
"All || thy waves and thy billows passed over me" (Jonah 2:3); and it showed him the pillars of the earth in its foundations, as it is said, "The earth with her bars for the world were by me" (Jonah 2:6); and it showed him the lowest Sheol, as it is said, "Yet hast thou brought up my life from destruction, O Lord, my God" (ibid.); and it showed him Gehinnom, as it is said, "Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and thou didst hear my voice" (Jonah 2:2); and it showed him (what was) beneath the Temple of God, as it is said,"(I went down) to the bottom of the mountains" (Jonah 2:6). Hence we may learn that Jerusalem stands upon seven (hills), and he saw there the Eben Shethiyah (Foundation Stone) fixed in the depths. He saw there the sons of Korah standing and praying over it. They said to Jonah, Behold thou dost stand beneath the Temple of God, pray and thou wilt be answered. Forthwith Jonah said to the fish, Stand in the place where thou art standing, because I wish to pray. The fish stood (still), and Jonah began to pray before the Holy One, blessed be He, and he said: Sovereign of all the Universe ! Thou art called "the One who kills" and "the One who makes alive," behold, my soul has reached unto death, now restore me to life. He was not answered until this word came forth from his mouth, "What I have vowed I will perform" (Jonah 2:9), namely, I vowed to draw up Leviathan and to prepare it before Thee, I will perform (this) on the day of the Salvation of Israel, as it is said, "But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving"
Date: 630-1030 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
... There is even less connection between the inventories of Haravah/Ma’on and Yabashah/Zevul: Nothing at all links the channels and lakes in Haravah with the ministering angels in Ma’on, or the sea, rivers, and dry land in Yabashah with Michael and the heavenly sacrifice in Zevul. It may well be that Seder Rabbah di-Bereshit reverses the order and regards She’ol tahtit as what the name says: the “lower She’ol,” namely, the lowest of the seven departments, and Gehinnom the uppermost one. The various manuscripts seem to be confused about the order. Interestingly enough, in Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer’s version of Jonah’s “sightseeing tour” through the waters of the depth, Jonah sees the She’ol tahtit and Gehinnom before he reaches the “Foundation Stone” [even shetiyah] beneath the Temple (Pirqei de-Rabbi Eli’ezer ha-gadol [Warsaw: Bi-defus T. Y. Bamberg, 1851/1852], Chapter 10, folio 26a; English translation: G. Friedlander, translator, Pirkê de Rabbi Eliezer [New York, 1971], 71) ...
Schäfer, Peter
In Heaven as It Is in Hell: The Cosmology of Seder Rabbah di-Bereshit
(p. 247) Cambridge University Press, 2004
* 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.
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