ゾハル、ベレシト 49

1AND THE LORD SAID, MY SPIRIT SHALL NOT STRIVE WITH MAN FOR EVER, FOR THAT HE ALSO IS FLESH. R. Aha said: ‘At that time the stream which perennially flows used to draw forth the celestial spirit from the tree of life and pour it into the tree which harbours death, and so the spirit was continued in the body of men for great length of days, until they turned out bad and inclined to sin. Then the celestial spirit departed from that tree at the moment of the soul’s entry into the sons of men.’

2R. Eleazar said that the word beshagam (for that he) signifies Moses, who caused the moon to shine, and this enabled men to abide in the world for great length of days. AND HIS DAYS SHALL BE A HUNDRED AND TWENTY YEARS. This is an allusion to Moses, through whose agency the Law was given and who thus bestowed life on men from the tree of life. And in truth had Israel not sinned, they would have been proof against death, since the tree of life had been brought down to them.

3All this was through Moses, who is called beshagam, and hence we have learnt: Moses did not die, but he was gathered in from the world, and caused the moon to shine”, being in this respect like the sun, which also after setting does not expire, but gives light to the moon.

4According to another explanation we translate, “for that it, to wit, the spirit, is also flesh”, i.e. it is long converted into flesh, in the sense of following the body and seeking the pleasures of this world.

5R. Isaac said: ‘The generations which followed in the steps of Seth were all pious and righteous. Subsequently, as mankind spread and multiplied, they learnt the arts of war, which they practised until Noah came and taught them the arts of peace and agriculture; for at first they used not to sow or reap, but afterwards they found this necessary, as it is written, “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, etc. (Gen. 8, 22).’

6R. Eleazar said: ‘God will one day re-establish the world and strengthen the spirit of the sons of men so that they may prolong their days for ever, as it is written, “For as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people, etc.” (Is. 65, 22), and also, “He hath swallowed up death for ever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people shall he take away from off all the earth, for the Lord hath spoken it” (Ibid. 25, 8).. A third commences on the fifth line of p. 39b, goes on to the eighth line of p. 40a, and is then interrupted and resumed towards the end of p. 45b. Pp. 38a-39b and 40a-45b contain a dissertation, or rather three allied dissertations, on the abodes of the righteous in Paradise, and of the angels (Hekaloth and Medorin), and on the halls of prayer (also called Hekaloth). These really constitute a separate work called Hekaloth, and therefore have not been included in this translation.