Andrei Orlov, «Moses’ Heavenly Counterpart in the Book of Jubilees and the
Exagoge of Ezekiel the Tragedian», Vol. 88 (2007) 153-173
The paper provides conceptual background for the idea of the angel of the presence as the heavenly counterpart of Moses in the Book of Jubilees and the Exagoge of Ezekiel the Tragedian. The identity of the celestial scribe in the form
of the angel of the presence found in the Book of Jubilees and some other Second Temple materials might further our understanding of the enigmatic process of
mystical and literary emulation of the exemplary figure, the cryptic mechanics of which often remains beyond the grasp of our post/modern sensibilities. It is possible that in the traditions of heavenly counterparts where the two characters
of the story, one of which is represented by a biblical exemplar, become eventually unified and acquire a single identity, we are able to draw nearer to the very heart of the pseudepigraphical enterprise. In this respect, it does not appear to be coincidental that these transformational accounts dealing with the heavenly doubles of their adepts are permeated with the aesthetics of penmanship and the
imagery of the literary enterprise. In the course of these mystical and literary metamorphoses, the heavenly figure surrenders his scribal seat, the library of the celestial books and even personal writing tools to the other, earthly identity who now becomes the new guardian of the literary tradition.
154 Andrei Orlov
Even more puzzling is that in these passages the angel insists on
personally writing the divine words, thus claiming the role of the
celestial scribe in a fashion similar to Moses (6). Also striking is that
this nameless angelic scribe posits himself as the writer of the
Pentateuch (“For I have written (this) in the book of the first lawâ€), the
authorship of which the Tradition ascribes to the son of Amram. What
are we to make of these authorial claims by the angel of the presence?
Is it possible that in this puzzling account about two protagonists,
one human and the other angelic — both of whom are scribes and
authors of the same “law†— we have an allusion to the idea of the
heavenly counterpart of a seer in the form of the angel of the
presence?(7) In Jewish apocalyptic and early mystical literature such
heavenly doubles in the form of angels of the presence are often
presented as celestial scribes. The purpose of this paper is to provide
conceptual background for the idea of the angel of the presence as the
heavenly counterpart of Moses in the Book of Jubilees.
I. The Background: The Heavenly Counterpart of the Seer
in the Jacob and the Enoch Traditions
Before proceeding to close analysis of the traditions about the
heavenly counterpart of Moses and its possible identification with the
angel of the presence, we will provide a short excursus on the
background of the idea of the celestial double of a seer. One of the
specimens of this tradition can be found in the targumic elaborations of
the story of the patriarch Jacob that depict his heavenly identity as his
“image†engraved on the Throne of Glory.
(6) The scribal office of Moses is reaffirmed throughout the text. Already in
the beginning (Jub 1,5.7.26) he receives a chain of commands to write down the
revelation dictated by the angel.
(7) On the angelology of the Book of Jubilees see R.H. CHARLES, The Book of
Jubilees or the Little Genesis (London 1902) lvi-lviii; M. TESTUZ, Les idées
religieuses du livre des Jubilés (Geneva 1960) 75-92; K. BERGER, Das Buch der
Jubiläen (JSHRZ II/3; Gütersloh 1981) 322-324; D. DIMANT, “The Sons of
Heaven: The Theory of the Angels in the Book of Jubilees in Light of the
Writings of the Qumran Communityâ€, A Tribute to Sarah. Studies in Jewish
Philosophy and Cabala Presented to Professor Sara A. Heller-Wilensky (eds. M.
IDEL – D. DIMANT – S. ROSENBERG) (Jerusalem 1994) 97-118 [in Hebrew];
VANDERKAM, “The Angel of the Presence in the Book of Jubileesâ€, 378-393; H.
NAJMAN, “Angels at Sinai: Exegesis, Theology and Interpretive Authorityâ€, Dead
Sea Discoveries 7 (2000) 313-333.
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