standing of the multitude or the truth of which as it appears to the imagina¬ tion of these people is different from what is intended by us. Know this also.
CHAPTER 18 To approach [qarob], to touch [nagoca\, to come near \iiagosh]. Those three terms, I mean approaching, touching, and coming near, sometimes signify to draw near and approach in space. Elsewhere they signify the union of cognition with what is cognized, which is, as it were, similar to the proximity of one body to another.
Examples of the first signification of approaching1 — that is, approaching in space — are: As he approached the camp-2. And Pharaoh approached.3 The first signification of touching is the drawing near of one body to another. Thus: And she caused it to touch his feet? And he caused it to touch my mouth.5 The first signification of coming near is the act in which one 3. milal. The word means, in the first place, “religious communities”; but it also may have the secondary meaning of “national communities.”
4. Literally: the speech.
1. Literally: as for the first meaning of approaching.
5. Isa. 6:7.
44 The Guide of the Perplexed 118 [ 24a individual goes and moves toward another individual. Thus: And Judah came near unto him.6 The second signification of these three terms is union in7 knowledge and drawing near through apprehension, not in8 space. Thus Scripture, using the word touching in the sense of union in knowledge, says: For her judgment toucheth heaven.9 As for approaching, it is said: And the cause that is too hard for you, cause it to approach me.10 Scripture says, as it were, let me know it. The word is thus used to denote the act of letting somebody know a knowable thing. As for coming near, it is said: And Abraham came near and saidf while he was in a state of inspiration and prophetic trance, as shall be explained;12 Forasmuch as this people came near, and with their mouth and with their lips do honor Me. 13 Every mention of approaching and coming near that you find in the books of prophecy referring to a relation between God, may He be exalted, and a created being 14 | has this last meaning. For God, may He be exalted, is not a body, as shall be demonstrated to you in this Treatise. And accord- ingly He, may He be exalted, does not draw near to or approach a thing, nor does anything15 draw near to or approach Him, may He be exalted, inasmuch as the abolition of corporeality entails that space be abolished;16 so that there is no nearness and proximity, and no remoteness, no union and no separation, no contact and no succession. I do not think that you shall grow doubtful or perplexed because Scripture says: The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him,-17 They take delight in approaching unto Godf The nearness of God is my good. 19 For in all these verses nearness through cognition,20 I mean cognitive apprehension, is intended, not nearness in space.21 The same applies to its dicta: Nigh unto ft,-22 Approach thou and hearf And Moses alone shall come near unto the Lord, but they shall not come near.2* The verse is to be interpreted in this way, unless you wish to consider that the expression shall come near, used with reference to Moses, means that the latter shall approach the place on the mountain upon which 6. Gen. 44:18. 7. Literally: of. 8. Literally: of. g. Jer. 51:9.
14. Literally: a created of the created ones.
15. Literally: a thing of the things.
lS. Literally: Inasmuch as in virtue of the abolition of corporeality space is abolished.
20. Literally: nearness of cognition.
21. Literally: nearness of place.
22. Deut. 4:7. The complete verse is as follows: For what nation is there so great who hath God so nigh unto it, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him for?
23. Deut. 5:24. The verse continues: all that the Lord our God shall say.
24. Exod. 24:2.
24 b ] The Guide of the Perplexed 119 the light, I mean the glory of God, has descended. For you are free to do so. You must, however, hold fast to the doctrinal principle25 that there is no difference whether an individual is at the center of the earth, or, supposing that this were possible, in the highest part of the ninth heavenly sphere. For he is not farther off from God in the one case26 and no nearer to Him in the other.27 For nearness to Him, may He be exalted, consists in apprehend¬ ing Him; and remoteness from Him is the lot of him who does not know Him.28 And there are very many gradations in being near to or far away from Him in this respect. I shall explain the manner of these gradations in apprehension in one of the chapters of this Treatise. As for its dictum, Touch the mountains that they may smoke,29 Scripture signifies thereby in parabolic language: let Thy decree come to them. It says in a similar way:30 And touch Thou him himself f meaning let Thy infliction come upon him. Consider in a similar way the term touching and all its derivatives in every passage in which they occur according to the context.32 Sometimes the word is intended to signify the approach of one body to another, and sometimes union through33 the cognition and apprehension of a certain thing. | For one who apprehends a thing that he did not apprehend before has, as it were, approached a thing that previously had been remote from him. Understand this.
CHAPTER 19 To fill [malle]. This is an equivocal term applied by people speaking the Hebrew language to a body’s entering and filling up another body. Thus: And she filled her pitcher f An omerful for each.’1 This usage is frequent.3 The term is likewise applied to the coming to an end and com¬ pletion of a measurable period of time. Thus: And her days were fulfilled,-+ And forty days were fulfilled for him.5 The term is also employed to signify 25. Literally: root. 26. Literally: here. 27. Literally: there.
28. Literally: is for him that does not know Him.
29. Ps. 144:5. 30. Literally: just as it says. 31. Job 2:5.
32. Literally: according to it. 33. Literally: of.
1. Gen. 24:16.
2. Exod. 16:32-35. Maimonides’ quotation does not conform exactly to the present biblical text.
3. Literally: and this is many. 4. Gen. 25:24.
5. Gen. 50:5.
4 6 The Guide of the Perplexed 1-20 [ 25a the achievement of perfection in virtue and of the latter’s ultimate end. Thus: And full with the blessing of the Lord? Them hath He filled with wisdom of heart? He was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill.8 In this sense it is said: The whole earth is full of His glory? the meaning of this verse being that the whole earth bears witness to His perfection, that is, indicates it. Similar is its dictum: And the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.10 Every mention of filling that you will find referring to God is used in this sense, and not in the sense of there being a body filling a place. However, if you wish to consider that the glory of the Lord is tfye created light that is designated as glory in every passage and that filled the tabernacle, there is no harm in it.
CHAPTER 20 CHAPTER 20 High [ram] is an equivocal term having the signification of being elevated in space and of being elevated in degree, I mean to say in exalted station, nobility, and great worth. Thus it says: And the ark was lifted high above the earth} In this passage | the first sense of the term is employed. It also says: I have placed on high one chosen 2 out of the people? Forasmuch as I have placed thee on high from among 4 the dust? Forasmuch as I have placed thee on high from among the people 8 In these verses the term in question has its second meaning. Every word derived from heightening 7 [, haramah ] has this second meaning when occurring with reference to God. Thus: Be thou heightened, O God, above the heavens.8 The term to bear [nasof has similarly the signification of elevation in space and of elevation in degree and abundance of good fortune. The 10. Exod. 40:34.
1. Gen. 7:17. The quotation is not quite exact. The text reads: And the waters increased and bore up the ark and it was lifted high above the earth.
2. Or: a young man. 3. Ps. 89:20.
4. The preposition preceding the words, the dust, is not correctly quoted by Maimonides, who replaces min by mit-tokh, a preposition occurring in the verse quoted by him immediately afterwards.
7. Literally: every word of heightening. 8. Ps. 57:6.
9. The adjective nissa, derivin gfrom this root, means “ high,” and a similar meaning is also to be found in certain verbal forms.
25 b ] The Guide of the Perplexed 1-21 verse, And they bore aloft their corn upon their asses,10 uses the word in its first sense. And similar instances are frequent in cases in which the word is used to signify carrying and transporting, for this implies lifting in space. The second meaning of the term is found in: And his kingdom shall be borne aloft f And He carried them and bore them;12 Wherefore do you bear yourselves high.15 Every mention of bearing that occurs with reference to God, may He be exalted, has this latter meaning. Thus: Bear Thee on high, Thou Judge of the earth f Thus saith the High, [He that w] borne on high.15 In these passages, the word means elevation, exalted station, and great worth, not height in space. Perhaps my saying elevation in degree, exalted station, and great worth, creates a difficulty for you. For you may ask:16 how can you consider that many notions are included in one meaning?17 However, it shall be made clear to you that in the opinion of those who have perfect apprehension, there should not be many attributive qualifications predicated of God 5 and that all the numerous attributive qualifications indicating any exaltation of Him and of His great worth, power, perfection, bounty, and various other things, refer to one and the same notion. That notion is His essence and nothing outside this essence. Chapters on the names and attributes will reach you later. In this chapter my purpose is to show that the words: The High, [He that z$] borne on high, do not have the meaning and signification of height in space, but of elevation18 in degree.
CHAPTER 21 To pass [cabor]. The first meaning of this term is that of passage1 in Arabic; and the first instances of its being used as concerned with | the movements of living beings over a certain distance in a straight line. Thus: And he passed over them;2 Pass before the people.5 Such instances are numerous. Subsequently the word was used figuratively to signify the 15. Isa. 57:15. 16. Literally: say.
17. The word macani, translated as “notions,” is the plural of the word macnd, translated as “meaning.” The sentence might be translated literally as follows: How can you make many meanings out of one meaning?
18. In Arabic the same word is used as that which has been translated “height.”
1. An Arabic word deriving from the same root as the Hebrew word dealt with in this chapter.
The Guide of the Perplexed I • 21 [ 2 5^ propagation of sounds in the air. Thus: And they caused a voice to pass throughout the campf Which I hear the Lord's people cause to pass.5 After¬ wards the word was figuratively used to signify the descent of the light and of the Indwelling6 seen by the prophets in the vision of prophecy. Thus it says: And behold a smoking furnace and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces? This happened in a vision of prophecy. For it says at the beginning of the story: And a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and so on.8 It is in conformity with this figurative use that it is said: And I shall pass through the land of Egypt,9 and that the term is used in all similar instances. Some¬ times the term is applied figuratively to a man who, in accomplishing a certain action, has fallen into excess and overpassed the bounds. Thus it says: And as a man whom wine has caused to overpass [the limit].10 The term is also applied sometimes to one who has been caused to miss11 one objective and thereupon aimed at another objective and at another goal. Thus: He shot an arrow, causing it to pass by.12 In my opinion the dictum of Scripture, And the Lord passed by before his face15 conforms to this last figurative use $ the possessive suffix in the third person attached to the Hebrew word face refers to God,14 may He be exalted. The Sages have likewise considered that the face15 mentioned in the verse is that of God, may He be exalted.16 Though they have mentioned this opinion while setting forth legends that are out of place here, this affords some corroboration for our view. Accord¬ ingly, the third person of the possessive suffix figuring in the Hebrew word His face refers to the Holy One, blessed be He.11 The explanation of this, according to what I think and to what occurs to me, is that Moses, peace be on him, demanded a certain apprehension — namely, that which in its dictum, But My face shall not be seen,18 is named the seeing of the face — and was promised an apprehension inferior to that which he had demanded. It is this latter apprehension that is named the seeing of the back in its dictum: And thou shalt see My back.18 We have already given a hint as to this meaning in Mishneh Torah.20 Scripture accordingly says in this passage 6. sakina in Arabic, corresponding to shekhinah in Hebrew.
11. Or according to Ibn Tibbon’s interpretation: who has missed. The Arabic also permits the interpretation: who has overpassed.
12. I Sam. 20:36. 13. Exod. 34:6. 14. And not to Moses, 15. Literally: this His face.
16. Cf. B.T., Rosh Hashanah, 17b.
17. Literally: His face is the third person of the Holy One, blessed be He. “His face” is expressed in Hebrew in one word.
that God, may He be exalted, hid from him the apprehension called that of the face and made him pass over to something different 5 | I mean the knowledge of the acts ascribed to Him, may He be exalted, which, as we shall explain,21 are deemed to be multiple attributes. When I say He hid from him, I intend to signify that this apprehension is hidden and inac¬ cessible in its very nature. Moreover every perfect man — after his intellect has attained the cognition of whatever in its nature can be grasped — when longing for another apprehension beyond that which he has achieved, cannot but have his faculty of apprehension deceived or destroyed — as we shall explain in one of the chapters of this Treatise22 — unless divine help attends him. As Scripture says: And I will cover thee with My hand until I have passed 23 The [Aramaic] translation 24 of the Bible, when rendering this verse, does what it customarily does in similar cases.25 For in every case in which it finds that a thing is ascribed to God to which the doctrine of corporeality or some concomitants of this doctrine are attached, it assumes that the nomen regens 26 has been omitted and considers that the ascription concerns something expressed by a term that is the nomen regens 27 of the genitive God and that has been omitted. Thus when Scripture says, And, behold, the Lord stood erect upon it,2B it translates: The glory of the Lord stood arrayed above it. Again when Scripture says, The Lord watch between me and thee,29 it translates: The word of the Lord shall watch \ between me and thee\. This occurs throughout the translation of [Onqelos],30 peace be upon him. He does the same thing with regard to the dictum of Scripture, And the Lord passed by before his face,31 which he translates: The Lord caused his Indwelling 32 to pass before his face, and he called.33 Thus according to him it was indubitably a created thing that passed by, he considers that in the expression, his face, the possessive suffix in the third person refers to Moses our Master. The interpretation of before his face would accordingly be: in his presence, as when Scripture says: So the present passed before his face.3* This too is an excellent interpretation that may be approved of. A 25. Literally: went according to its habit in these matters.
26. The Arabic word is mudaf, the primary sense of which is “adjunct.” Accordingly it is implied that in grammatical analysis the word thus described is less important than the genitive to which it is an adjunct. The term “nomen regens” obviously implies the opposite.
27. Cf. preceding note. 28. Gen. 28:13. 29. Gen. 31:49.
30. Literally: his translation. 31. Exod. 34:6. 32. shekkinah.
33. The Hebrew word that may be translated, and he called, is omitted by Maimonides when he quotes the Hebrew text of Exod. 34:6, but occurs in the Aramaic translation of this passage as quoted by him.
34. Gen. 32:22.
jo The Guide of the Perplexed I • 21 [ 26 b corroboration of the interpretation of Onqelos the Proselyte, may his memory be blessed, may be found in the dictum of Scripture: And it shall come to pass, while My glory passeth by,35 This verse makes it clear that what passeth is a thing related36 to God, may He be exalted, not the essence37 of God, may His name be sublime; and it is thus of this glory that Scripture says, Until I have passed by, and, And the Lord passed by before his face. If it is necessary to assume an omitted nomen regens, as is always done by Onqelos — for, in accord with the context, sometimes he takes | the omitted word to be glory, and sometimes he takes it to be Indwelling, and sometimes he takes it to be word — we, for our part too, take the nomen regens omitted here to be voice. The assumption accordingly would be that the verse should read: And the voice of the Lord passed by before him and called. We have already explained that the Hebrew language uses the word passage in a figurative sense with reference to voice. Thus: And they caused a voice to pass throughout the camp.5S In the verse in question it would39 be the voice that called. You should not consider it as improbable that a call is ascribed to a voice, for it is in these very words 40 that expression is given to the fact that God, may He be exalted, spoke to Moses. For it says: Then he heard the voice speaking unto him.+1 Just as in this latter verse speech is ascribed to the voice, a call is attributed to the voice in the verse we are discussing. Sometimes this, I mean the ascription of speech1''2' and of a call to a voice, occurs quite explicitly. Thus it says: A voice saith: Call. And he said: What shall I call r*43 According to this assumption, the interpretation of our verse would thus be: a voice from God passed by in his presence and called: Lord, Lord. The repetition of the word Lord would be due to its being a call, for He, may He be exalted, would be the one who is called. It would be like saying: Moses, Moses $ Abraham, Abraham. This too is a very fine inter¬ pretation.
You should not consider as blameworthy the fact that this profound subject, which is remote from our apprehension, should be subject to many different interpretations. For this does no harm with respect to that toward which we direct ourselves. And you are free to choose whatever belief you wish. You may believe that the great station attained by [Moses] was 35. Exod. 33:22. 36. Or: ascribed.
37. dhatuh. The term may be translated either as “God’s essence” or as “God Himself.”
38. Exod. 36:6.
39. According to this explanation.
40. This statement contains a minor inaccuracy. In one verse the two Hebrew words are qol and va-yiqra. In the other the words are haq-qol medabber. This is pointed out by Maimonides two sentences further on.
27a ] The Guide of the Perplexed 1-22 j / indubitably, in its entirety, a vision of prophecy and that he solely desired intellectual apprehensions — everything, namely, that which he had demanded, that which was denied to him, and that which he apprehended, being intellectual and admitting of no recourse to the senses, as we had interpreted in the first place. Or you may believe that there was, in addition to this intellectual apprehension, an apprehension due to the sense of sight, which, however, had for its object a created thing, through seeing which the perfection of intellectual apprehension might be achieved. This would be the interpretation of this passage by Onqelos,++ unless one assumes that this ocular +5 apprehension also occurred in the vision of prophecy, | as is stated with regard to Abraham: Behold a smoking furnace and a flaming torch that passed }6 Or again you may believe that there was in addition an apprehension due to the sense of hearing; that which passed by before his face being the voice, which is likewise indubitably a created thing. Choose whatever opinion you wish, inasmuch as our only purpose is that you should not believe that when Scripture says, in the verse we are dis¬ cussing, He passed by, the phrase is analogous to Pass before the people.*1 For God, may He be honored and magnified, is not a body, and it is not permitted to ascribe motion to Him. It is therefore impossible that He should have been said to pass by if the word is used in the first meaning given to it in the Hebrew language.
CHAPTER 22 To come [bo3]. Coming \al-bPah.] in the Hebrew language has been given a meaning that refers to the coming of a living being, I mean his drawing near some place or some other individual. Thus: Thy brother came with guile} The word has also been given a meaning that refers to a living being entering some place. Thus: And Joseph came home? When ye be come to the land J This term is also used figuratively to denote the coming about + of something that is not at all corporeal. Thus: When thy words come to 44. Literally: just as Onqelos interpreted this.
45. In Arabic an adjective derived from a word meaning “sight.”
46. Gen. 15:17.
47. Exod. 17:5; in this passage Moses is ordered to pass.
4. hulul. One of the primary senses of this word is “the act of descending.”
The Guide of the Perplexed 1-25 [ 276 pass we may do thee honor? From the things that shall come upon thee,5 6 It is, in consequence, applied figuratively even to certain privations,7 Thus: Yet trouble came;6 And darkness came? Since the term had been thus figura¬ tively applied to what is in no way a body, it was also figuratively applied to the Creator, may He be honored and magnified, either to the descent10 of His decree or to that of His Indwelling. It is in view of this figurative use that it is said: Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud?1 For the Lord, the God of Israel, comes through it?2 All passages similar to these signify the descent of the Indwelling.15 The verse, And the Lord my God shall come, and all the holy ones with thee?* signifies, on the other hand, the descent of God’s decree or the realization of the promises made by Him through His prophets. This last notion is signified in | the dictum: All the holy ones with thee. Scripture says, as it were: And the word of the Lord my God shall come through all the holy ones who are with thee; the people of Israel being the one addressed.
CHAPTER 25 CHAPTER 25 Going out [al -yesFah] is the contrary of coming. The term is used to denote the going-out of a body, which may be a living being or not, from a place in which it rested to another place. Thus: They were gone out of the city? If fire break out? The term is applied figuratively to the manifes¬ tation of things that are in no way a body. Thus: The word went out of the king’s mouth? When this deed of the queen shall come abroad? meaning the propagation5 of the matter; For out of Zion shall go forth the law? Thus also: The sun was risen i7 upon the earth? I refer to the manifestation of the light. Every mention of going out occurring in Scripture with reference to Him, may He be exalted, conforms to this figurative use. Thus: For, behold, the Lord goeth out of His place? that is, His decree, which at present is hidden from us, will become manifest. I refer to the coming into being of 7. The term is used here in the technical Aristotelian sense.
4. Literally: shall go out. Esther 1:17. 5. nufudh. The word also means “effect.”