3 Enoch

that have been foisted together. As the place of the wicked was conceived of as Gehenna, Gehenna being situated below the heavens, it was necessary, in order to reconcile the different views (Nehar di-Nur in ‘Araboth and as means of punish- ment) to present the Nehar di-Nur or the fiery rivers as flowing from the Throne of Glory in the ‘Araboth through the heavens down to Gehenna. In Ma‘yan Chokma (Rev. And then the fiery river...falls down upon the heads of the wicked in Gehenna, as it is written (Jer. xxiii. 19): ‘Behold a whirlwind of the Lord.. .it shall burst upon the head of the wicked". Cf. vs. 5 above. burning coals. The clouds of burning coals are surrounded on the outside by seven walls of flame(s). The seven walls of flame(s) are surrounded on the outside by seven walls of hailstones (stones of El-gabish, Ezek. xiii. 11, 13, xxviii. 22). The hailstones are surrounded on the outside by !stones of hail (stone of Barad). The stones of hail are surrounded on thg outside by stones of ‘‘ the wings of the tempest ”. The stones of ‘the wings of the tempest” are surrounded on the outside by flames of fire. The flames of fire are surrounded by the chambers of the whirlwind. The chambers of the whirlwind are surrounded on the outside by ?the fire and the water. (2) Round about ?the fire and the water are those who utter the ı-ı E om. 2-2 E: ‘walls of fire and water’ the Throne of Glory (cf. here ch. xxxiii. 3 and beginning of this chapter) and the feet of Shekina are resting upon their heads...and thousand thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand ministering angels are standing round the feet of Shekina (cf. ‘thousand camps of fire etc.’, vs. 2 here)". Helak Merkaba, referred to above, has the following representation: ‘‘ Behind the Throne is the Wind, that surrounds the Throne, and Light surrounds the Wind, and splendour surrounds the light, fire surrounds the splendour etc....and the colour of chashmal (Ezek. i. 4) surrounds the flames, and clouds surround the chash- mal etc.” are surrounded on the outside by, it. ‘in front of’ or ‘before...are placed in a circle, are surrounded, hailstones—stones of hail—stones of the wings of the tempest. These are used as mystical terms, and it is difficult to determine to what extent the writer when using them has a definite or clearly conceived idea in his mind as to what they represent. ‘The ‘’el-gabish’ seems, like ‘chashmal, to have been a difficult and hence mysterious word which, especially as it occurs only in Ezekiel, was thought to have a deeper mystical connotation. It is then natural that it came to be regarded as denoting a celestial substance or object. Wings of the tempest’ as a technical term occurs also e.g. in ch. xviii. 25. For the walls of flames, walls of fire, flames of fire etc. (fire being the celestial substance, car’ €£oynv), cf. Mass. Hek. iv, according to which four walls surround the splendours in Araboth Raqia, “one of lappid (firebrands), another of flames, the third of burning fire, the fourth of lightnings". Cf. ch. xlii. 7. 'The counterbalance of the two polar opposites of fire and water is a well-established part of the cosmological speculations as well as of those of the mysteries of the heavens. (2) Round about. ..are those who utter the ' Holy ".. .those who utter the 8-2 “Holy”. Round about those who utter the “Holy” are those who utter the ‘‘ Blessed”. Round about those who utter the “ Blessed” are the bright clouds. The bright clouds are surrounded on the outside by coals of burning juniper; and on the outside surrounding the cgals of burning juniper there are thousand camps of fire and ten thousand hosts of flame(s). And between every several camp and every several host there is a cloud, so that they may not be burnt by the fire.