conceived according to Plato’s opinion. As for the throne of glory belonging to the created things, the Sages state this expressly, but in a strange manner. For they say that it was created before the creation of the world.5 But the scriptural texts, in connection with it, do not refer in any way to creation, with the exception of David's statement: The Lord | hath established His throne in the heavens,6 which statement admits very well of figurative interpretation. However, the throne’s eternity a parte post is expressly stated: Thou, O Lord, sittest for all eternity. Thy throne is from generation to generation.1 Now if Rabbi Eliezer believed in the eternity a parte ante of the throne, the latter must have been an attribute of God, and not a created body. But how is it possible for a thing to be generated from an attribute? Strangest of all is his saying: the light of His garment. All in all, this state¬ ment will confuse very much indeed the belief of a learned man who adheres to the Law. No persuasive figurative interpretation with regard to it has become clear to me. I have only mentioned it to you in order that you should make no mistake about it. However, its author has in any case rendered us a great service by making it quite clear that the matter of the heavens is other than that of the earth and that they are two altogether distinct matters. One of them is attributed to Him, may He be exalted, because of its sublimity and high rank, and this is the light of His garment; the other matter is remote from His light and splendor, may He be exalted, and this is the lowly matter that the author of the statement makes out to derive from the snow under the throne of glory. This has made me interpret figuratively the passage of the Torah, And there was under his feet, as it were, a work of the whiteness of sapphire stone,6 as meaning that they apprehended in this prophetic vision the true reality of the inferior first matter. For Onqelos makes out, as I have explained to you,9 that his feet refers to the throne. And this clearly indicates that the whiteness, which is under the throne, is the terrestrial matter. Thus Rabbi Eliezer repeated the very same thing and made it clear — I mean the fact that there are two matters, a high and an inferior one, and that the matter of the universe is not one. This is a great mystery, and do not think disdainfully of the fact that the greatest Sages of Israel have made a clear statement about it. For it is one of the mysteries of being and a mystery among the mysteries of the Torah.
They say in Bereshith Rabbah: Rabbi Eliezer says: The creation of everything that is in the heavens derives from the heavens, and the creation The Guide of the Perplexed 11-27 [ 57a of everything that is \ in the earth derives from the earth. 10 Consider how this Sage has made it clear to you that the matter of everything that is on earth — I mean to say, of everything that is beneath the sphere of the moon — is one common matter, and that the matter of all the heavens and of what is in them is another matter and not the same as the one just mentioned. In his Chapters, [Rabbi Eliezer] clearly states this one additional subtlety. I mean to say the sublimity of that matter and its nearness to Him and the defectiveness of the other and also the place where it is located. Know this.
CHAPTER 27 I have already made it clear to you that the belief in the production of the world is necessarily the foundation of the entire Law. However, the belief in its passing-away after it has come into being and been generated is not, in our opinion, in any respect a foundation of the Law, and none of our beliefs would be hurt through the belief in its permanent duration. Perhaps you will say: Has it not been demonstrated that everything that comes into being passes away? 5 if then the world is generated it will pass away. Know then that this need not apply to us. For we do not assert that it has been generated according to the rule applying to the generation of the natu¬ ral things that follow a natural order. For what is generated in accor¬ dance with the course of nature 1 must of necessity pass away in accordance with the course of nature. For just as its nature had required that at first it should not exist in this particular way whereas after that it has come to exist in that way, it necessarily also requires that it should not exist in that way forever. For it is established as true that this mode of existence is not permanently attached to it by its nature. However, in view of our claim, based on the Law, that things exist and perish according to His will, may He be exalted, and not in virtue of necessity, j it is not necessary for us to profess in consequence of that opinion that when He, may He be exalted, brings into existence a thing that had not existed, He must necessarily cause this existent to pass away. Rather does the matter inevitably depend on His will: if He wills, He causes the thing to pass away 5 and if He wills, He 10. Genesis Rabbah, X; cf. B.T., Yoma, 54b.
1. Literally: the natural course.
58a ] The Guide of the Perplexed II • 27 3)3 causes it to last: or it depends on what is required by His wisdom. It is accordingly possible that He should cause it to last for ever and ever and to endure as He Himself, may He be exalted, endures.
You know that while the Sages state explicitly that the throne of glory has been created, they never say that it will become nonexistent. No prophet and no Sage has ever been heard to say that the throne of glory will pass away or become nonexistent. Rather does the text of Scripture state that it will last forever. The same applies to the souls of the virtuous; for according to our opinion, they are created, but will never become non¬ existent. According to certain opinions of those who follow the literal sense of the Midrashim,2 their bodies3 will also be in a state of perpetual felicity for ever and ever — an opinion resembling that of those whose belief as to the inhabitants of Paradise is generally known.
To sum up: Speculation obliges us to affirm that the passing-away of the world need not necessarily follow. Thus it only remains to examine this question in the light of the information imparted by the prophets and the Sages. Have they given information that this world will without any doubt pass away, or have they not? Most of the vulgar among us believe that such information has been given and that all this world will pass away. However, I shall explain to you that this is not so, but that there are many texts that signify that it will last forever. All the passages from whose external sense it appears that the world will pass away, are most manifestly parables, as I shall explain. If, however, one of the externalists refuses to admit this and says that he must necessarily believe in the passing-away of the world, he should not be dealt with illiberally. However, he needs to be informed that the world’s passing-away does not necessarily follow from the fact of its having been created in time, but that he believes in this, as he thinks, by way of accepting the veracity of the one who stated | that parable, which he takes in its external sense. From the point of view of the Law, there is no harm in this in any respect whatever.
2. In the text: Midrashoth. 3. Or: corpses.
CHAPTER 28 Many of the adherents of our Law have thought that Solomon, peace be on him, believed in the eternity of the world. It is amazing that it should be imagined that a man belonging to the adherents of the Law of Moses our Master believed in the eternity of the world. If, however, some¬ one deems — may God protect us! — that in this he abandoned the opinions of the Law, how was it that all the prophets and the Sages accepted this from him and did not attack him on this point or blame him after his death, as had to be done in connection with the alien women and on other counts? This vain imagining was occasioned by the statement of the Sages, may their memory be blessed; [ People ] wanted to suppress the book of Ecclesiastes because its words incline to those of the heretics.i This is undoubtedly so; I mean to say, in this book, taken in its external sense, there are passages that incline to opinions foreign to those of the Law and that need a figurative interpretation. However, the affirmation of the etern¬ ity of the world does not belong to them. There is no text in it indicating this, and no text whatever is to be found in it that states explicitly that the world is eternal a parte ante. However, some texts in it indicate that it is eternal a parte post, which is true. When people saw texts indicating that the world is eternal a parte post, they thought that he [Solomon] believed that the world was not created in time. This is not so.
The text in the book regarding the eternity a parte post of the world reads: And the earth abideth for ever [ lecolam ].2 But those who were not aware of this subtlety resorted to the explanation: during the time pre¬ determined for it. And they explain similarly His words, may He be exalted, Yet all the days of the earth* as referring to the | predetermined length of its life. Would that I knew what is said with regard to David's words: Who didst establish the earth upon its foundations, that it should not be moved for ever and ever [' 'olarn vaced\* For if the words, colam vaced,5 do not point to eternity a parte post, this would mean that the deity has a certain duration. For the scriptural text says with reference to His eternity a parte post, may He be exalted: The Lord shall reign for ever and ever \le colam vaced ].6 You know that the word colam does not signify eternity a parte post unless it be conjoined with the word cad, which may come l. Leviticus Rabbah, XXVIII; Midrash Qoheleth, 1:3. 2. Eccles. 1:4.
6. Exod. 15:18.
g ga ] The Guide of the Perplexed II • 28 either after it — as in the scriptural expression: colam valed— or before it — as in the scriptural expression: cad colam. Consequently Solomon’s statement:7 abideth for ever [le colam], means less than David’s statement:8 that it should not be moved for ever and ever [':olam vaced ].9 David, peace be on him, likewise makes clear and manifest the eternity a parte post of the heavens and the permanence in an immutable state of their statutes and of all that is in them. For he says: Praise ye the Lord from the heavens, and so on. For He commanded and they were created. Fie hath established them for ever and ever; He hath made a statute, which shall not be transgressed.10 He means by this that the statutes, which He has laid down, will never be changed. For the word statute alludes to the statutes of heaven and earth f which have been mentioned previously. However, he makes it clear that they are created, saying: For He commanded, and they were created. And Jeremiah, peace be on him, says: Who giveth the sun for a light by day, and the statutes of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, and so on. If these statutes depart from before Me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation.12 Thus he has likewise clearly stated that they — I mean these statutes — even though created, shall not depart.
Thus if this matter is pursued, this doctrine will be found not only in Solomon’s words. On the other hand, Solomon himself has likewise stated that these works of the deity — I mean the world and what is in it — even though they are made, are permanently established according to then- nature for ever. For he says: That whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever', nothing can be added to it, nor any thing taken from it.ls Thus he imparts in | this verse the information that the world is a work of the deity and that it is eternal a parte post. He also states the cause of its being eternal a parte post; namely, in his words: nothing can be added to it, nor any thing taken from it. For this is the cause of its being for ever. It is as if he said that the thing that is changed, is changed because of a deficiency in it that should be made good or because of some excess that is not needed and should be got rid of. Now the works of the deity are most perfect, and with regard to them there is no possibility of an excess or a deficiency. Accordingly they are of necessity permanently established as they are, for there is no possibility of something calling for a change in them. He has also, as it were, stated an end for what 7. See above in this chapter. 8. See above in this chapter.
9. Solomon’s statment is less strong than David’s because he uses the expression lecolam to signify “perpetual duration,” and not the expression colam vaSed employed by David. io. Ps. 148:1, 5, 6. 11. Jer. 33:25. 12. Jer. 31:34-35- 13. Eccles. 3:14.
3 The Guide of the Perplexed II • 29 [ 59 b has come to exist or given an excuse for what changes, saying in the final part of the verse-. And God hath so made it, that they should fear before Him 14 — he refers to the production in time of miracles. In saying after that, That which hath been is now, and that which is to be hath already been-, and God seeketh that which is pursued,*5 the author states that He, may He be exalted, desires that that which exists should continue and that its various parts should be consecutive to one another. As for his mention of the perfection of the acts of the deity and of its being impossible to add or to take away from them, the Master of those who know had already clearly stated this, saying: The Rock, His work is perfect.*5 He means that all His works — I mean to say His creatures — are most perfect, that no deficiency at all is commingled with them, that there is no superfluity in them and nothing that is not needed. Similarly all that is being accomplished for and by the created things is absolute justice and follows from the requirement of wisdom, as shall be made clear in some of the chapters of this Treatise. | CHAPTER 29 CHAPTER 29 Know that if one does not understand the language of a human being whom one hears speaking, one indubitably knows that he speaks, but without knowing what he intends to say. Something of even graver import may occur: sometimes one may hear in someone else’s speech words that in the language of the speaker indicate a certain meaning, and by accident that word indicates in the language of the hearer the contrary of what the speaker intended. Thus the hearer will think that the signification that the word has for the speaker is the same as its signification for him. For instance if an Arab hears a Hebrew man saying 5aba [he wishes ], the Arab will think that he speaks of an individual who was reluctant with regard to some matter and refused [3aba] it.1 However, the Hebrew only wished to convey that the individual was pleased with the matter and wished it. This is similar to what happens to the multitude with regard to the speech of the prophets, excepting certain portions that they do not understand at all. As it says: the vision of all this is become unto you as the words of a book that 1. The two words have the same radicals. In Hebrew 5 aba means “to wish”; in Arabic Jaba means “to be reluctant” and “to refuse.”
6o« ] The Guide of the Perplexed 11-29 jyj is sealed.'1 With regard to other portions, they understand what is the contrary of, or contradictory to, the true meaning. As it says: And ye have perverted the words of the living God.1 Know that every prophet has a kind of speech peculiar to him, which is, as it; were, the language of that individual, which the prophetic revelation peculiar to him causes him to speak to those who understand him.
After this preface, you ought to know that in the speech of Isaiah, peace be on him, it very frequently occurs — whereas in the speech of other prophets it rarely occurs — that when he speaks of the fall of a dynasty or the destruction of a great religious community, * he uses such expressions as: the stars have fallen, the heavens were rolled up, the sun was blackened, the earth was devastated and quaked, and many similar | figurative expressions. This is similar to what is said by the Arabs with regard to someone whom a great misfortune has befallen: his heavens were cast upside down upon his earth. In the same way when he describes the pros¬ perity of a dynasty and the renewal of happiness, he calls them: an increase of the light of the sun and the moon, a renewal of the heavens and a renewal of the earth, and so forth; just as when describing the destruction of an individual or a religious community or a city, they ascribe to God in relation to the latter the states of anger and extreme -wrath; and when describing the prosperity of a people, they ascribe to God the states of joy and gladness. Accordingly they say about states of anger with regard to men or communi¬ ties: He went forth and He went down and He roared and He thundered and He gave forth His voice, and many other similar expressions; they say likewise: He ordered and He said and He acted and He did, and so on, as I shall set forth. Similarly when a prophet gives information as to the destruc¬ tion of the people of a certain locality, he sometimes substitutes for the people of that locality, the whole human species. Thus Isaiah, peace be on him, says: And the Lord will remove man far awayf he refers to the destruction of Israel. And Zephaniah says on this subject: And I will cut off man from off the face of the earth. And I will stretch out My hand upon Judah.6 Know this also.
After having interpreted this language to you in a general way, I shall show you the correctness of this interpretation and the demonstration thereof. When God had given Isaiah, peace be on him, prophetic inspira¬ tion regarding the fall of the Babylonian dynasty, the destruction of Sennacherib and of Nebuchadnezzar who rose up after him, and the end of his kingdom; and when that prophet began to describe the disaster that The Guide of the Perplexed II • 29 [ 6oZ> befell them at the end of their reigns, their defeats, and the misfortunes that came upon them and were such misfortunes as come upon all the defeated who flee the victory of the sword — he said: For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine! And he also said in the course of the same description: Therefore I will make the heavens to tremble, and the earth shall be shaken out of her place, in the wrath of j the Lord of hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger} I do not think that there has been anyone in whom ignorance, blindness, and the inclination to adhere to the external sense of figurative expressions and of rhetorical speeches, have reached such a point that he thought that the stars of the heavens and the light of the sun and of the moon have been changed when the kingdom of Babylon came to an end, or that the earth was removed from its center,9 as was stated. All of this is merely a description of the state of someone put to flight; for without any doubt, he sees all light as black, finds everything that is sweet bitter, and imagines that the earth has narrowed for him and that the heavens are closed10 over him. Similarly when he began to describe the state of extreme humiliation and servitude to which Israel would be reduced throughout the time of the wicked Sennacherib— when he would capture all the fortified cities of Judah, u take the people captive, and put them to flight, and when various calamities would befall them in quick succession at his hands and the whole land of Israel perish through him, he said: Terror, and the pit, and the trap, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth!2 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the terror shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the trap; for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth do shake. The earth is broken, broken down, the earth is crumbled in pieces, the earth trembleth and tottereth. The earth reeleth to and fro like a drunkard, and so on.13 At the conclusion of this passage, when he began to describe what God would do to Sennacherib, the destruction of his proud kingdom before Jerusalem, and the shame that God would cause him to suffer there, he said, speaking in parables: Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for the Lord of hosts will reign, and so on.1+ Jonathan ben Uziel, peace be on him, has given a very good interpretation of this passage, 7. Isa. 13:10. 8. Isa. 13:13. 9. Or: its position.
10. Or, according to the translation of Ibn Tibbon, who may have had a somewhat different Arabic text: are upset.
11. Isa. 36:1. 12. Or: the land.
13. Isa. 24:17-20.
14. Isa. 24:23.
6i£] The Guide of the Perplexed II • 29 jjp saying that when that which was going to come to pass before Jerusalem would happen to Sennacherib, the idolaters would know that that was a divine act and would be astonished and confused. For he, may peace be on him, says:i5 | They who worship the moon will be ashamed, and they who bow down to the sun will be humbled, for the Kingdom of God will be revealed, and so on.
Again when he began to describe how great shall be the stable security of Israel after the destruction of Sennacherib, as well as the fertility and cultivation of their lands and the good fortune of their dynasty brought about by Hezekiah, he said, speaking in parables, that the light of the sun and of the moon would increase. For whereas, as has been mentioned, with reference to someone put to flight, the light of the sun and of the moon goes out and becomes darkness, their light increases according to him who is victorious. For you will always find that when a great misfortune befalls a man, his eyes are darkened and the light of his sight is not clear, because the visual spirit is disturbed by the superfluity of vapors and also because it is weak and there is not much of it in consequence of the greatness of the sorrow and the contraction of the soul. On the contrary, when there is joy, when the soul expands outwards and the spirit is clear, man sees as it were that the light is stronger than it was. He says: For, O people that dwellest in Zion at Jerusalem, thou shalt weep no more, and so on.i6 The conclusion of the passage is: Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of the seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the bruise of His people, and healeth the stroke of their wound}1 He refers to their being raised from the fall caused by the wicked Sennacherib. As for his words, as the light of seven days, the commentators have said that he means thereby the multiplicity of light, for the Hebrews denote multiplicity by the number seven. However, it occurs to me that he refers to the seven days of the dedication of the Temple, which took place in the days of Solomon. For the religious community 18 had never had such good fortune, happiness, and general joy, as in those days. He says accordingly that their good fortune and happiness will be then as it was in those seven days. | When he described the destruction of wicked Edom, which oppressed Israel, he said: Their slain also shall be cast out, and the stench of their carcasses shall come up, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. And all the host of heaven shall moulder away, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their host shall fall down, 15. In the Aramaic translation attributed to him. 16. Isa. 30:19.
17. Isa. 30:26. 18. Or: nation.
The Guide of the Perplexed 11-29 [ 62a