Antiquitopia

Last time in our daily Hekhalot we learned a little about adjuring an angel named Anafiel to do one's bidding--and a very interesting part of the adjuration is that the instructions for it are given by Anafiel himself. This leads to a question: why would an angel willingly bind himself to a human's will? Really that is two questions: why would an ANGEL bind himself willingly to a HUMAN's will? Usually angels and humans are rivals in the Hekhalot literature--at least to some extent--although sometimes they are cooperative. And why would an angel WILLINGLY bind himself to a human's will? Why would an angel--or any being--willingly instruct another how to bind them to the other's will? Today's text, which will be unusually short, continues the trend of cooperation, of the angelic assistance when called. Text: וכל מי שהוא מספר עליו לשון הרע מיד אני מכה אותו ומשחיתו חוץ ממלאך שהוא שליח מלך הכבוד Translation: And everyone who speaks slander upon him im...

Having finished a preliminary textual apparatus, translation, and notes for Hekhalot Zutarti §420, we now turn to an equally preliminary glimpse at the subsequent pericope. Text: אמר ענפיאל כל מי שהוא מבקש להתפלל התפילה הזאת ולהתבונן במעשה יוצרו זכור לו אות אחת מן האותיות האילו שוב אינו נפנה לא לימינו ולא לשמאלו עד שאפנה ואעשה לו את חפצו Translation: Anafiel said: Everyone who seeks to pray this prayer and to contemplate the works of his Creator should remember one sign/letter among these signs/letters: again we will not turn either to the right or to the left until I turn and I do for him his concern. Variants: N8128 includes השר after ענפיאל, and omits מי after כל. M22 adds את before התפילה. N8128 uses זו instead of זאת. N8128 and M22 use יזכור rather than זכור. M22 has לנו rather than לו. O1531 has אחד rather than אחת. O1531 has האותות rather than האותיות. N8128 has הללו instead of האילו. M40 and N8128 have איני. O1531 has לו instead of לא after נפנה. M40 an...