Beholders of Divine Secrets: Mysticism and Myth in the Hekhalot and Merkavah Literature

الغلاف الأمامي
State University of New York Press, 01‏/02‏/2012 - 262 من الصفحات
Beholders of Divine Secrets provides a fascinating exploration of the enigmatic Hekhalot and Merkavah literature, the Jewish mystical writings of late antiquity. Vita Daphna Arbel delves into the unique nature of the mystical teachings, experiences, revelations, and spiritual exegesis presented in this literature. While previous scholarship has demonstrated the connection between Hekhalot and Merkavah mysticism and parallel traditions in Rabbinical writings, the Dead Sea Scrolls, apocalyptic, early Christian, and Gnostic sources, this work points out additional mythological traditions that resonate in this literature. Arbel suggests that mythological patterns of expression, as well as themes and models rooted in Near Eastern mythological traditions are employed, in a spiritualized fashion, to communicate mystical content. The possible cultural and social context of the Hekhalot and Merkavah mysticism and its composers is discussed.

من داخل الكتاب

المحتوى

Introduction
1
1 The Hekhalot and Merkavah Literature and Its Mystical Tradition
7
2 Hekhalot and Merkavah Mysticism
21
3 Mythical Language of Hekhalot and Merkavah Mysticism
51
4 Mystical Journeys in Mythological Language
67
Mystical and Mythological Dimensions
105
6 Literary Phenomenological Cultural and Social Implications
139
Notes
157
Bibliography
211
Index of Passages Discussed
237
Index of Authors
247
General Index
249
حقوق النشر

طبعات أخرى - عرض جميع المقتطفات

عبارات ومصطلحات مألوفة

نبذة عن المؤلف (2012)

Vita Daphna Arbel is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of British Columbia.

معلومات المراجع