4 - Glory To God In The Highest (The Litany of the Angels)

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Praised be Thy name for ever, O our King, creator of ministering spirits, all of whom stand in the height of the universe ... and open their mouths in holiness and purity, with song and psalm, while they bless, praise, glorify, reverence, and ascribe sovereignty to the name of the Divine King. ... With tranquil spirit, with pure speech, and with holy melody they all intone in unison and exclaim with awe:

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts, the fullness of the whole earth is His glory.

And the Ophanim and the Holy Creatures with a noise of great rushing upraise themselves towards the Seraphim, and over against them offer praise and say:

Blessed be the Glory of the Lord from the place thereof.

Jewish Morning Service

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Introduction

Jewish folklore, deriving its inspiration from the famous visions of Isaiah (6.2-3) and Ezekiel (ch. 10), has insisted throughout the ages that when Israel offers public worship to God, its devotions are accompanied by a corresponding act of divine service performed by the angels. This poetic fancy, which finds expression also in the Sanctus of the Christian Communion service, forms the background of what is here designated The Litany of the Angels. This document, only two short extracts from which have thus far been published, describes elements of the celestial liturgy.

The first extract is based squarely on the vision of Ezekiel (1 and 10) and depicts the angels rising in their several classes and contingents to give praise to God seated aloft on His Chariot-throne. The main interest of the extract is historical: it pushes back to a remoter antiquity that lore of the Heavenly Chariot (Merkabah) which formed a staple of later Jewish mysticism and which some scholars have attributed to the Essenes. Moreover, the passage bears a remarkable resemblance to some of the ancient prayers (Yoser) embodied in the traditional Jewish morning service—prayers which some nineteenth-century savants likewise ascribed to that ascetic brotherhood.

The second extract is in many ways the more interesting. It sets forth a series of blessings said to have been pronounced, as part of the celestial liturgy, by each of seven archangels. The point is, however, that these blessings are evidently conceived as the angelic counterpart of the Priestly Benediction (Num. 6.24-27) anciently recited in the Temple and now a staple element of all Jewish public worship. The similarity is close and arresting:

(a) Each blessing is divided into three parts, matching the structure of the Aaronic formula, and according especially with the statement in the Mishnah (Tamid, vii.2) that outside of Jerusalem this formula was indeed reckoned and recited as three blessings.

(b) Each blessing is pronounced in the name of a divine quality or attribute, e.g., God's sovereign majesty, sublime truth, mystical power, or holiness, and each is designed to convey a particular benefit upon its recipients. This is in direct accord with the words of the Aaronic formula: So shall they put My name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them (Num. 6.27).

(c) The entire benediction ends with the word peace, again in accordance with the Aaronic formula (Num. 6.26).

(d) We may perhaps go even a step further. Besides those 'who have walked uprightly', 'who have been eager to do God's will', 'whose way has been blameless', and the like, one passage (Blessing #5) makes curious mention-according to one possible rendering—of 'those who have given thanks to Him'. True, one reason for this specification is that it lends itself to a play on words between the majesty (hod) which they are to receive as their guerdon and the act of thanksgiving (modim) by which they have earned it. It is also possible, however, that what suggested this somewhat curious particularization was the fact that in the service of the synagogue the Priestly Benediction (or a substitute for it) is actually recited in the Standing Prayer ('Amidah) immediately after the Blessing of Thanksgiving, which begins, We give thanks (modim) and ends, Blessed art Thou, O Lord ... to whom it is fitting to give thanks. This usage is believed to be ancient.

It is not clear whether the blessings were thought to be pronounced upon angels or human beings. In Blessing #4 there is indeed a specification of 'the godly beings who have upreared the structure of true knowledge', and this is a not uncommon description of angels. On the other hand, phrases like 'those whose way has been blameless' are certainly more suggestive of human beings, and in Blessing #6 the benefit conferred is that the recipients 'may take their stand beside the beings eternal'—a phrase which can scarcely refer to angels who themselves are those eternal beings. It may therefore be suggested that the blessings were thought to be pronounced upon the sainted dead, who thus received their heavenly reward. That these should be designated 'godly beings' is not at all extraordinary; the very point of the designation may lie in the hyperbole.

This interpretation is strongly supported, if not actually confirmed, by the fact that in later rabbinic tradition mention is made of seven classes of saintly persons who are privileged to enjoy the Beatific Vision in seven compartments of paradise, each of them being there translated into a category of angels, and in several cases they are designated by the same names as in our text.

Thus, as enumerated in Seder Gan Eden (*) (which is thought to have been compiled from ancient sources), they are: (i) the 'righteous' [zaddiqim], to whom correspond the angelic Arelim; (ii) the 'upright' [yesharim], to whom correspond the angelic Hashmalim; (iii) the 'blameless' [temimim], to whom correspond the angelic Tarshishim; (iv) the 'saintly' [qedoshim], to whom correspond the angelic Holy Beings; (v) the 'penitent', to whom correspond the angelic Ophanim; (vi) school children, to whom correspond the angelic Cherubim; and (vii) the 'pious' [hasidim], to whom correspond the angelic Holy Creatures (hayoth). Each of these is headed by a Scriptural paragon, viz. (i) Joseph; (ii) Phinehas; (iii) Eleazar, son of Aaron; (iv) Aaron; (v) King Manasseh of Judah; (vi) Joshua; the leader of the seventh class being left unnamed.

Thus, what is envisaged in our text would be a blessing by the corresponding leader of the heavenly contingent either upon its counterpart still on earth or else upon those members of it who have already attained celestial status.

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(*) A. Jellinek, Beth Ha-Midrash, iii, 131-40; J. D. Eisenstein, Osar Midrashim, i,86.

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Finally, it is worth observing that the divine qualities in whose names the blessings are pronounced accord in several instances with those associated with God in the elaborate kabbalistic system of the Sephiroth, e.g., majesty, power, etc. Nor should it be overlooked that there is a subtle correspondence between the qualities of those on whom the blessings are conferred and of the angels who confer them. Thus, those who have upheld true knowledge (gnosis) become one with the angels who possess such knowledge and who are elsewhere described in the Scrolls (Hymns iii.22) as 'spirits of knowledge' or as possessed of the 'wisdom of the sons of heaven', (Manual, iv.22).

Similarly, those who have laid firm foundations for nobility and knowledge qualify (by implication) as the equals of those personified celestial 'foundations' (elements, (PIC INSERT 288) of the world who are in fact angelic beings; while those who have 'shown prowess of mind' become the companions of the angels who are elsewhere described as 'stalwarts' (Hymns viii.11; x.34-35; cp. Ps. 103.20).

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The Litany Of The Angels

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... the angels that minister to the Presence of God's Glory (1) in that compartment of heaven (2) where abide [the beings who possess (true)] knowledge. (3) They fall (4) before the [cheru]bim and intone their blessings. (5)

While they are soaring aloft, (6) there sounds a murmur of angel voices [ ], (7) and the lifting of their wings is accompanied by a clamor of joyous song. It is the murmur of angels blessing the Chariot-like Throne (8) above the firmament of the cherubim, (9) while they themselves, from below the place where the Glory dwells, go acclaiming in joyous song the [splen]dor of that radiant expanse.

(Whenever the wheels (of that Chariot) are in motion, (10) angels of sanctification (11) dart to and fro (12) all around it, between its glorious wheels. Like fiery apparitions are they, (13) spirits most holy, looking like streams of fire, in the likeness of burnished metal (14) or of lustrous ware; clothed in garments opalescent, a riot of wondrous hues, a diffusion(?) (15) of brightness; live angelic spirits, (16) constantly coming and going beside the glorious wonderful Chariot. (17) Amid all the noise of their progress sounds also that murmured intonation of blessings, and whenever they come round, they shout their holy hallelujahs.)

When (the angels) soar aloft, they soar in wondrous wise; and when they alight, (18) they stay standing. (19)

Then the sound of the paean is hushed, and the murmur of angelic benedictions pervades all the camps (20) of those godly beings. Anon, from the midst of their every contingent, (21) they [give forth] a sound of praise, as, in [holy] wor[ship], each of their several ranks (22) breaks forth into joyous song, one after another, in their several stations. (23)

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4

Next, with seven words (1) of nobility (2)
the fourth of the arch-princes (3)
blesses (4) in the name of His (5) kingly nobility
all who have walked uprightly;
and with seven words of [ ]
he blesses all who have laid foundations for [nobility];
and with seven words of vindication (6)
he blesses all those godly beings who have upreared the
structure of true knowledge; (7)
that they may be blessed with His glorious mercy.

5

Next, with seven words of sublime truth
the fifth of the arch-princes
blesses in the name of His mystical powers (8)
all who have [led lives of] purity;
and with seven words of [ ]
he blesses all who have been eager to do His will;
and with seven words of majesty
he blesses all who have acknowledged His majesty. (9)
that they may be blessed with [ ] majesty

6

Next, with seven words of His mystical prowess
the sixth of the arch-princes
blesses in the name of angelic prowess (10)
all who have shown prowess of mind; (11)
and with seven mystical words
he blesses all whose way has been blameless; (12)
that they may take their stand beside the beings eternal; (13)
and (again) with seven mystical words
he blesses all who have waited on Him; (14)
that they may obtain in return (15) the mercy of His tender love.

7

(Finally,) with seven words of His mystical holiness
the seventh of the arch-princes
blesses in the name of His holiness
all the saintly beings among those who have laid foundations for (true) knowledge;
and with seven mystical words
he blesses all who have avouched the sublimity of His judgments; (16)
that they may be blessed with stout shields;
and with seven words of [ ] (17)
he blesses all who have enlisted in the cause of righteousness, (18)
who have sung continually the praises of His glorious kingdom; (19)
that they may be blessed with peace. (20)

THEREUPON all the arch-princes (in concert)
[acclaim the praise of] the God of the angels,
and all the [

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Notes

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I. See Analytical Index, F. 2 (b)-(c).

2. Literally, 'dwelling", but the term bears this specific meaning in the Hechaloth-literature, e.g., in Masse-cheth Hechaloth, ch. 7, (=Eisenstein, Osar Midrashim, i.110b).

3. See Analytical Index, F. 5.

4-. Possibly this is all one sentence, with the ministering angels as the subject But it seems to me more natural to suppose that these, with the cherubim, are the beings who reside in the highest heaven, just below the Throne, and whom the soaring angels encounter.

5. See Analytical Index, F. 6. The Kedushah ('Sanctus') in the Jewish liturgy for sabbaths and festivals describes them as responding to the Trisagion uttered by the seraphim with the words, 'Blessed be the glory of the Lord from the place thereof (cp. Isa. 6.3; Ezek. 10.3). Massecheth Hechaloth, ch. 5, elaborates: 'By day they sing the Sanctus; at night, the Benedictus'. It is the latter, rather than a general benediction, that may here be meant.

6. Cp. Ezek. 10.16, 17, 19.

7. The low murmur (whisper) of the angels is a common theme in rabbinic literature; e.g., Sifre i.58. It is mentioned explicitly in the Kedushah; cp. L. Zunz, Gottesdientl. Vortrage der Juden, (2) 173, 363. Hechaloth Rabbath!, ch. 26 (Eisenstein, op. eft., i.!21a) says that 'the Holy Creatures stand posted before Thee in a soft murmur'. Similarly, Slavonic Enoch 20.3 says that the angels sing 'with small tender voices'; cp. also ib., 21.1 (A); 22.3.

8. I.e., the Merkabah of later Jewish mysticism, which concept some scholars have indeed attributed to the Essenes. The expression occurs also among the Mandaeans: John Book ii.76f. The phrasing in our text is adapted from I Chron. 28.18.

9. Cp. Ezek. 10.1. These several 'firmaments', i.e., storeys of heaven, are mentioned specifically in the Hechaloth-literature, e.g., Jellinek, Beth ha-Midrash, iii.168.

10. Cp. Ezek. 10.9, 11.

11. See Analytical Index, F. 2 (d). As in Enoch, these are here identified with the 'holy creatures' of Ezekiel's vision.

12. The phrase is taken from Ezek. 1.14 (read as in the Vulgate, with a slight deviation from the traditional Jewish Masoretic text).

13. Cp. Ezek. 1.13, 27. See also Slavonic Enoch 29.13.

14. Cp. Ezek. 1.27. But the exact meaning of the Hebrew word hashmal is uncertain. In rabbinic lore, it came to denote a class of angels!

15. The reading, and hence also the translation, is uncertain. I have guessed.

16. Not 'spirits of a living God', as the words might formally mean. This is a paraphrase of the expression 'holy creatures' (lit. 'holy living beings') in Ezekiel's vision.

17. The text reads 'chariots', in the plural. These are indeed mentioned in the Hechaloth-literature, but it seems more probable that the scribe has made a slip, and that the reference is to the Throne-chariot (Merkabah) of God.

18. The curious use of the Hebrew word sh-k-n in this sense may be illustrated from Syriac, where one of its meanings is indeed 'sink down in flying'.

19. Cp. Ezek. 1.24-25. Isa. 6.2 says expressly that 'the seraphim stood above him'. Standing was the ancient posture in prayer, though the expression 'stand beside' was a good Semitic way of saying simply 'serve'.

20. The phrase derives from Gen. 32.3 (RSV: 'God's army'). The 'camps' of the angels are frequently mentioned in the Hechaloth-literature (e.g., Eisenstein, op. cit., 110a, 123a), and the angels—as the 'host of heaven'—are often depicted as a militia.

21. A military term; cp. Num. 2, passim; War vi.l, 4, 5; viii.14; ix.4, 10; xvii.10.

22. Again a military term; cp. Isa. 13.4, etc.

23. Once more a military term; cp. War vi.1, 4, 5; viii.3, 6, 17; ix.10; xvi.5; xvii.11.

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1. I.e., phrases redolent of (nobility, etc.).

2. Or, majesty, splendor.

3. I.e., archangels. The expression is adapted from Ezek. 38.2; 39.1. See Analytical Index, F. 2 (a).

4. Or, will bless, is to bless.

5. Note that the name of God is never mentioned directly in the blessings.

6. Or, righteousness.

7. Literally, 'raise high' in contrast to 'lay the foundations'. Slight paraphrase has been necessary to bring out the point.

8. The Hebrew word means properly 'something singu-lar, extraordinary', and is used constantly in the Scrolls of things heavenly and transcendental. 'Mystical' seems the nearest equivalent.

9. The word may also be rendered, 'who have given thanks to Him'. Perhaps it plays on the fact that in the service of the synagogue, the Priestly Blessing, of which this is the angelic counterpart, is recited after that section of the Standing Prayer ('Amidah) which begins, 'We give Thee thanks' and ends, 'Blessed art Thou, O Lord ... to whom it is beseeming to give thanks'. There is also a word-play between 'majesty' (hod) and 'give thanks' (modim).

10. Cp. Manual, xvii.6.

11. In allusion to the fact that the angels themselves are called 'those who show prowess of strength'; see Analytical Index, F. 1 (h).

12. Ps. 119.1.

13. For this notion, see Analytical Index, A. 12.

14. Isa. 30.18.

15. Scarcely, 'that they may obtain a return (restoration) of His tender love', as the words might formally mean, because the doctrine of the Scrolls is that, despite all Israel's defections, God's tender love remains constant

16. Literally, 'who have exalted His judgments (i.e., dispensation)'—again in contrast to 'lay the foundations'; see above, n. 7.

17. Cp. TB Berachoth 27b, where men of advanced insight are described as 'shield-bearers'; v. Kohut, Aruch Completum, viii.282.

18. A military metaphor; cp. note 16 to Hymn 8, and see Analytical Index, A. 10.

19. The point is that they have done what the angels themselves are continually doing, viz. singing the 'eternal song' of God. The Kedushah ('Sanctus') in the Jewish liturgy says explicitly that the earthly congregation recites God's sanctity and grandeur continually as do the angels.

20. In imitation of the Priestly Blessing, which ends with 'peace' (Num. 6.26). In the Jewish liturgy, it is followed immediately by a prayer beginning, 'Grant peace', and ending, 'Blessed art Thou, O Lord, Who blessest Thy people Israel with peace' (cp. Ps. 29.11).

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