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.
Moses’ Heavenly Counterpart 157
attested in several ancient Jewish texts, that a creature of flesh and
blood could have a heavenly double or counterpart (18). To provide an
example, VanderKam points to Jacob’s traditions in which the
patriarch’s “features are engraved on high†(19). He stresses that this
theme of the visionary’s ignorance of his higher angelic identity is
observable, for example, in the Prayer of Joseph.
I have previously argued that the idea of the heavenly counterpart
of the visionary is also present in another Second Temple Enochic text
– 2 (Slavonic) Apocalypse of Enoch (20).
2 Enoch 39,3-6 depicts the patriarch who, during his short trip to
the earth, retells to his children his earlier encounter with the Face.
Enoch relates:
You, my children, you see my face, a human being created just like
yourselves; I am one who has seen the face of the Lord, like iron made
burning hot by a fire, emitting sparks. For you gaze into my eyes, a
human being created just like yourselves; but I have gazed into the
eyes of the Lord, like the rays of the shining sun and terrifying the eyes
of a human being. You, my children, you see my right hand beckoning
you, a human being created identical to yourselves; but I have seen the
right hand of the Lord, beckoning me, who fills heaven. You see the
extend of my body, the same as your own; but I have seen the extend
of the Lord, without measure and without analogy, who has no end (21).
Enoch’s description reveals a contrast between the two identities
of the visionary: the earthly Enoch (“a human being created just like
yourselvesâ€) and his heavenly counterpart (“the one who has seen the
Face of Godâ€). Enoch describes himself in two different modes of
existence: as a human being who now stands before his children with
a human face and body and as a celestial creature who has seen God’s
Face in the heavenly realm. These descriptions of two conditions
(earthly and celestial) occur repeatedly in tandem. It is possible that
the purpose of Enoch’s instruction to his children is not to stress the
(18) VANDERKAM, “Righteous One, Messiah, Chosen One, and Son of Man in
1 Enoch 37-71â€, 182-183.
(19) VANDERKAM, “Righteous One, Messiah, Chosen One, and Son of Man in
1 Enoch 37-71â€, 182-183.
(20) A. ORLOV, The Enoch-Metatron Tradition (TSAJ 107; Tübingen 2005)
165-176; IDEM, “The Face as the Heavenly Counterpart of the Visionary in the
Slavonic Ladder of Jacobâ€, A. ORLOV, From Apocalypticism to Merkabah
Mysticism. Studies in the Slavonic Pseudepigrapha (JSJS 114; Leiden 2007)
399-419.
(21) F. ANDERSEN, “2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of) Enochâ€, The Old Testament
Pseudepigrapha (ed. J.H. CHARLESWORTH) (New York 1983) I, 163.
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