thereof and observes it in purity, is beloved on high and popular below. He is feared by the people, his learning is preserved by him, and he inherits the two worlds, this world and the next.6 This is literally what the Talmud says. How very remote is the way in which this saying is usually understood from the intention of its speaker. For most people think that it deals solely with the pronunciation of letters, and it is not taken into consideration that these letters may have a meaning, so that great things may be acquired through them and that for this reason there is needed the moral preparation and the multiple forming of dispositions that were mentioned. It is clear then that all this is solely instruction in divine notions belonging to the totality of notions that, as we have elucidated, are mysteries of the Torah. It has been made clear in the books that have been composed concerning divine science that it is impossible to forget this science; I mean thereby the apprehension of the active intellect; this is the meaning of the dictum of the Sage: his learning is preserved by him. When wicked and ignorant people found these texts, they had great scope for lying statements in that they would put together any letters they liked and would say: this is a name that has efficacy and the power to operate if it is written down or uttered in a particular way. Thereupon these lies invented by the first wicked and ignorant man were written down, and these writings transmitted to good, pious, and foolish men who lack the scales by means of which they could know the true from the false. These people accordingly made a secret of these writings, and the latter were found in the belongings left behind them, so that they were thought to be correct. To sum it up: | A fool believes everything.1 We have gone beyond our noble subject and our subtle speculation, turning to speculation designed to invalidate vain imaginings the lack of validity of which is manifest to every beginner in speculation. However the necessity that made us mention the names and their meaning and the opinion concerning them that is generally accepted by the vulgar has led us to do so. I shall now return to my subject.
We have already pointed out that all the names of God, may He be exalted, are derived except the articulated name. It behooves us to speak of this name, which is I am that I am,8 in a separate chapter as it includes the subtle notion with which we are dealing, I mean the negation of attributes.
7. Prov. 14:15.
8. Exod. 5: 14.
CHAPTER 63 We shall begin with an introductory remark. We shall say regarding the saying of [Moses], peace be on him — And they shall say to me, What is His name? What shall I say unto them? 1 — why was this question necessarily attached to the matter under discussion so that [Moses] demanded to know how he should answer it? As for his saying, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice; for they will say: the Lord hath not appeared unto thee,2 it is very clear that everyone who lays claim to prophecy should be spoken to in this way until he brings proof. Furthermore if the matter concerned, as it may appear, merely a name to be pronounced, there are only two possibilities: namely, that [the Children of] Israel already knew this name or that they had never heard it. If it was known to them, [Moses’] telling it would be no argument in his favor,3 for his knowledge of it would be like their knowledge. If, on the other hand, this name had not been heard among them, what would be the proof of this being the name | of God, supposing that the knowledge of His name were a proof? Besides, after He, may He be exalted, had made known this name to him, He told him: Go, and gather the elders of Israel together. And they shall hearken to your voice* There came the answer of [Moses], peace be on him: But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice.5 Yet this answer was preceded by His dictum, may He be exalted: And they shall hearken to your voice; and it is followed by Him, may He be exalted, saying to [Moses]: What is that in thy hand? And he said: A rod.6 What you should know so that this whole difficulty should be made clear to you is that which I shall tell you.
You know that in those times the teachings of the Sabians were generally accepted and that all except a few men were idolaters. I mean by this that they believed in spirits, that they believed that those spirits can be made to descend among men, and that they made talismans. At those times everyone who claimed to be listened to either claimed, like Abraham, that speculation and reasoning had come to him indicating to him that the world as a whole has a deity, or else he claimed that the spirit of a star or an angel or something similar had descended upon him. Yet that an indi¬ vidual should make a claim to prophecy on the ground that God had spoken to him and had sent him on a mission was a thing never heard of prior to i. Exod. 3:13. 2. Exod. 4:1. 5. hujja. Literally: proof.
10 1 54 The Guide of the Perplexed 1-63 [ 82a Moses our Master. You should not be led into error on this point by what is said in Scripture with regard to the Patriarchs, with reference to whom it is mentioned that God spoke and manifested Himself to them. For you do not find in their cases the kind of prophecy that would have made them call upon people or guide correctly others than themselves, that is, the kind of prophecy that would have made Abraham or Isaac or Jacob or those who preceded them say to people: “God told me: You should act or not act in a certain way”; or: “He has sent me to you.” This had never happened before. The Patriarchs were addressed in regard to their private affairs only; I mean only in regard to their perfection, their right guidance concerning their actions, and the good tidings for them concerning the position their descendants would attain. They had addressed a call to people by means of speculation and instruction, as is made clear, in our opinion, | in the passage: And the sowZjs] that they had gotten in Harran.7 Accordingly when God, may He be held sublime and magnified, revealed Himself to Moses our Master and ordered him to address a call to people and to convey to them his prophetic mission, [Moses] said: the first thing that they will ask of me is that I should make them acquire true knowledge that there exists a god with reference to the world; after that I shall make the claim that He has sent me. For at that time all the people except a few were not aware of the existence of the deity, and the utmost limits of their speculation did not transcend the sphere, its faculties, and its actions, for they did not separate themselves from things perceived by the senses and had not attained intellectual perfection. Accordingly God made known to [Moses] the knowledge that he was to convey to them and through which they would acquire a true notion of the existence of God, this knowledge being: I am that I am* This is a name deriving from the verb to be [ hayah ], which signifies existence, for hayah indicates the notion: he was. And in Hebrew, there is no difference between your saying: he was, and he existed. The whole secret consists in the repetition in a predicative position of the very word indicative of existence. For the word that [in the phrase “I am that I am”] requires the mention of an attribute immediately connected with it. For it is a deficient word requiring a con¬ nection with something else; it has the same meaning as alladhi and allatl, the male and female relative pronouns in Arabic. Accordingly the first word is I am considered as a term to which a predicate is attached; the second word that is predicated of the first is also I am, that is, identical with the first. Accordingly Scripture makes, as it were, a clear statement that the 82 b ] The Guide of the Perplexed 1-63 j subject is identical with the predicate. This makes it clear that He is existent not through existence. This notion may be summarized and inter¬ preted in the following way: the existent that is the existent, or the necessarily existent. This is what demonstration necessarily leads to: namely, to the view that there is a necessarily existent thing that has never been, or ever will be, nonexistent. I shall make clear the demonstration of this thesis.
Accordingly when He, may He be exalted, had made known to [Moses] the proofs9 that would establish His existence among their10 men of knowledge— this may be inferred from the words that follow: Go, and gather the elders | of Israel together11 — and had promised him that they would understand what I have transmitted and would accept it — this is signified by His words: And they shall hearken to your voice 12 — [Moses], peace be on him, posed another question saying: once they have accepted by means of these intellectual demonstrations the view that there is an existent deity, what shall be my proof that this existent deity has sent me? Thereupon he was granted the miracle. Thus it has been made clear that the meaning of his saying, What is His name? means only: who is He who you think has sent you? He said, What is His name? only with a view to magnifying and exalting [God] in address. He says as it were: no one is ignorant of Your essence and true reality 5 if, however, I am asked about Your name, what is the meaning indicated by that name? He only thought that it would be a reprehensible thing to say in speaking that there are those who are ignorant of that existent and consequently made out that they were ignorant of His name only and not of that which is signified by that name.
The name Yah refers similarly to the notion of the eternity of existence, whereas Shaddai derives from the word day, meaning a sufficiency. Thus: For the stuff they had was sufficient [day am], 13 The letter shin [occurring at the beginning of Shaddai] has the meaning who, as in shekbar. 1+ Accord¬ ingly the meaning [of Shaddai] is He who is sufficient; the intention here being to signify that He does not need other than Himself with reference to the existence of that which He has brought into existence or with reference to prolonging the latter’s existence, but that His existence, may He be exalted, suffices for that. Similarly the name Hassin derives from the 9. A being endowed with intellect cannot but accept the truth of a demonstration. A proof ( dalil ) does not have this irrefragable character.
10. In the context probably the men of knowledge among the Children of Israel are meant.
ij6 The Guide of the Perplexed 1-64 [ 83a notion of power; thus: And he was strong \hason\ as the oaks,15 Similarly the name Rock [sw] applied to Him is equivocal, as we have made clear.16 Accordingly it has become clear to you that all names are derived or are used equivocally, as Rock and others similar to it. He, may He be exalted, has no name that is not derivative except the name having four letters, which is the articulated name. This name is not indicative of an attribute but of simple existence and nothing else. Now absolute existence implies 17 that He shall always be, I mean He who is necessarily existent. Understand the point at which this discourse has finally arrived. | CHAPTER 64 Know that the name Y.H. V.H} sometimes is intended to signify the name exclusively, as in his saying: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain;2 And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord.5 This occurs innumerable times. The term is sometimes intended to signify the essence and true reality of Him, may He be exalted, as for instance: And they shall say to me: What is His name P4 The term is sometimes intended to signify His commandment, may He be exalted, so that when we say the name of Y.H. V.H.5 it is as if we said the word of Y.H. V.H.6 or the speech of Y.H. V.H.,1 as when Scripture says, for My name is within him,6 which means My word is within him or My speech is within him. The meaning is that he9 is an instrument of My will and volition. I shall make this state¬ ment clear when speaking of the equivocality of angel.10 Similarly the glory of Y.H. V.H}1 is sometimes intended to signify the created light that God causes to descend in a particular place in order to confer honor upon it in a miraculous way: And the glory of Y.H. V.H. abode upon Mount Sinai, and [ the cloud ] covered it, and so on;12 And the glory of Y.H. V.H. filled the tabernacle,15 The expression is sometimes intended to signify His essence and true reality, may He be exalted, as when he says, Show me, I pray Thee, Thy glory, 14 and was answered: For man shall not see Me and live.15 1. In the text “Y.Y.” is substituted for “Y.H. V.H.” 2. Exod. 20:7.
3. Lev. 24:16. 4. Exod. 3:13. 5. “Y.Y.” in the text. 6. “Y.Y.” in the text.
7. “Y.Y." in the text. 8. Exod. 23:21. 9. Or: it. I.e., God’s word or speech.
This answer indicates that the glory that is spoken of here is His essence, and that [Moses’] saying Thy glory is by way of honoring Him, in the same way as we have made clear16 with regard to his saying: And they shall say to me: What is His name? Glory is sometimes intended to signify the honoring of Him, may He be exalted, by all men. In fact all that is other than God, may He be exalted, honors Him. For the true way of honoring Him consists in apprehending His greatness.17 Thus everybody who appre¬ hends His greatness and His perfection, honors Him according to the extent of his apprehension. Man in particular honors Him by speeches so that he indicates thereby that which he has apprehended by his intellect and communicates it to others. Those beings that have no apprehension, as for instance the minerals, | also as it were honor God through the fact that by their very nature they are indicative of the power and wisdom of Him who brought them into existence. For this induces him who considers them to honor God, either by means of articulate utterance or without it if speech is not permitted him. The Hebrew language gives itself latitude in that it applies to this notion the term saying. Accordingly it is said of that which is devoid of apprehension that it praises God. Thus Scripture says: All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto Thee;10 whereby it conveys that the bones necessitate this belief, as though they put it into speech, for they too make this known. It is in view of this notion being named glory that it is said, The whole earth is full of His glory,19 this being equivalent to the dictum, And the earth is full of His praise,20 for praise is called glory. Thus it is said: Give glory to the Lord your God;21 and it is said: And in His temple all say: Glory 22 This occurs frequently. Understand then likewise the equivocality with reference to glory and interpret the latter in every passage in accordance with the context. You shall thus be saved from great difficulty.
16. In the preceding chapter.
17. The word taczim, translated by “honoring,” and the word izma, translated by “great¬ ness,” derive from the same root.
21. Jer. 13:16.
CHAPTER 65 Ido not consider that — after having attained this degree and having gained the true knowledge that He, may He be exalted, exists not by virtue of an existence and is one not by virtue of a oneness — you require that the denial of the attribute of speech with reference to Him be explained to you. This is the case particularly in view of the general consensus of our community on the Torah being created. This is meant to signify that His speech that is ascribed to Him is created. It was ascribed to Him only because the words heard by Moses were created and brought into being by God, just as He has created all the things that He has created and brought into being. Later prophecy will be treated of at length. | The intention here is to indicate that predicating speech of Him is similar to predicating of Him all the actions resembling ours. Thus the minds of people are rightly guided toward the view that there is a divine science apprehended by the prophets in consequence of God’s speaking to them and telling it to them so that we should know that the notions transmitted by them from God to us are not, as shall be made clear, mere products of their thought and insight. But this subject has already been mentioned by us.
The purpose of this chapter is to set forth that the words speaking and saying are equivocal, applied both to utterance by the tongue — as when it says, Moses spoke? And Pharaoh said2 — and to notions represented by the intellect without being uttered — as when it says, Then said I in my heart? Then I spoke in my heart? And thy heart shall speak? My heart said unto thee? And Esau said in his heart.1 This meaning is frequent. The terms in question are also used to denote wishing, as in the verse, He thought 8 to have slain David.9 It is as if it said he wished to slay him, that is, gave his mind to it. Thus: Thinkest thou 10 to kill me?1 the interpretation and meaning of it are: do you want to kill me? And also in the verse: But all the congrega¬ tion wanted 12 to stone them with stones.13 This meaning likewise is frequent.
Now in all cases in which the words saying and speaking are applied to God, they are used in one of the two latter meanings. I mean to say that they are used to denote either will and volition or a notion that has been grasped by the understanding having come from God, in which case it is g. II Sam. 21:16. 10. Literally: sayest thou. 11. Exod. 2:14.
12. Literally: said. 13. Num. 14:10.
84&] The Guide of the Perplexed I • 65 /jp indifferent whether it has become known by means of a created voice or through one of the ways of prophecy, which we shall make clear. The terms in question never signify that He, may He be exalted, spoke using the sounds of letters and a voice, nor that He, may He be exalted, possesses a soul into which notions are impressed so that there would subsist in His essence a notion superadded to that essence. For these notions are attached to and related to Him in the same way as all other actions. As regards volition and will being denoted by the words saying and speaking | —this, as we have made clear, is one of the meanings because of which these words are equivocal. In this case too they are used by way of likening Him to us. For as we have pointed out above,14 man cannot understand at first how, where there is a will that a thing should be done, that thing should be done by the mere will alone. In fact, if one thinks of it in a superficial way, 15 there is no doubt that he who wills either does the thing the existence of which he wills, or commands somebody else to do it. For this reason the term “command” is figuratively used of God with reference to the coming to be of that which He has willed. Thus it is said that He commanded that this should come to be. The words are used accordingly by way of likening His actions to ours, in addition to their being used, as we have made clear, to indicate the meaning: he wished. In all cases in which He said, He said, occurs in the Account of the Beginning,16 it means He willed or wanted. This has already been said by an individual17 other than we and is very well known. The demonstration of this, I mean that His sayings [at the creation of the world] were volitions only and not speeches, lies in the fact that speech may only be addressed to an existent that receives the command in question. Thus the dictum of Scripture, By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, 18 is analogous to its dictum, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth, in the same verse. For the terms His word and His saying are used figuratively in the same way as the terms His mouth and the breath of His mouth, the intention being to signify that the heavens have come to exist through His purpose and will. No one among our renowned men of knowledge is ignorant of this. I do not need to make clear that the words saying and speaking have an identical meaning 14. Cf. I 46.
15. The Arabic expression, fl badi' ' al-ra?y, is frequently used by the philosophers. Literally it means “in the beginning of opinion.”
16. maSaseh bereshith. As Maimonides states in his Introduction, this expression may mean “physics.”
17. Or: individuals. 18. Ps. 33:6, 160 The Guide of the Perplexed 1-66 [ 85a in the Hebrew language, as is shown by the verse: For it hath heard all the sayings of the Lord which He spoked CHAPTER 66 And the tables were the work of God. 1 He intends to signify by this that this existence was natural | and not artificial, for all natural things are called the work of the Lord: These saw the works of the Lord.2 Accordingly after he has mentioned all natural things, such as plants, animals, winds, rains, and others of the same kind, he says: How manifold are Thy works, O Lord!3 He went even further than this ascription in saying: The cedars of Lebanon which He hath planted. + It is because the existence of the cedars is natural and not artificial that he says that God has planted them. Similarly when it says5 the writing of God,6 it has already made clear in what way the writing may be ascribed to God by its saying7 written with the finger of God.6 Its saying with the finger of God is analogous to its saying, with reference to the heavens, the work of Thy fingers,9 For Scripture has made clear with regard to the heavens that they have been made by saying: By the word of the Lord were the heavens made}6 It has then become clear to you that, with regard to the coming into being of a thing, the texts figuratively use the terms saying and speaking and that it is one and the same thing of which it is said that it was made by speech and of which it is said that it is the work of a finger. Similarly the dictum written with the finger of God is equivalent to its saying by the word of God.
Furthermore, the expression by the word of God would, if Scripture had used it, be equivalent to its saying written by the will of God, I mean by His will and volition.11 As for Onqelos, with reference to this matter he puts forward a strange interpretation, for he translates: written with a finger belonging to the Lord. For he makes out that finger is a certain thing related to God and interprets the finger of the Lord in an analogous way to 19. Josh. 24:27.
5. With reference to the Tables of the Law. 6. Exod. 32:16.
7. With reference to the Tables of the Law. 8. Exod. 31:18.
11. This clause is intended to explain the Hebrew word for “will,” which Maimonides has just used.