After that I went to interpret the following verse of Scripture and I found in what is written (Isa. lvii. 16): “for the spirit clothed itself before me, and the souls I have made” that (“for the spirit was clothed before me”) means the spirits “that have been created in the chamber of creation of the righteous and that have returned 4—4. E om. The fully righteous spirits are there termed “ the spirits from the side of SAhekina" ; cf. But another interpretation of the expression 'spirits of the righteous not yet born’ is “the spirits that when once having entered earthly life will turn out righteous. They are foreseen to be righteous”. Their future per- fection reacts upon their pre-existent state. T'his seems to be the underlying idea of the passage Ber. Treated as a whole then, these chapters convey an interpretation of the words ‘spirits of the righteous not yet created’ more in line with the latter of the two connotations just referred to, but rather to the effect that there are no unrighteous spirits in the pre-existent state. No other unborn spirits are referred to in these chapters. Although only available as a demonstratio e silentio, this fact tends to show that at least the compiler of the present section moves on the basis of the orthodox conception expressed in the prayer ' Elohe Nésháma (given in TB. Ber. 60 b): '* O God, the spirit which thou hast set within me is pure etc.” (Box, Ezra-Apocalypse, p. 120). Cf. Eccl. R. xii. 7: “the spirit I have given thee is pure; if thou give it back to me in the same state it is good for thee; if not, I will burn it before thee". (Cf. ch. xliv. and TB. Nidda, 30a, Shab. 32 b, Baba Batra, 16a.) Also 4 Macc. xviii. 23 (“ having received pure and immortal souls from God"). Still it is evident that the expression by itself presupposes a distinction between righteous and not righteous already in the pre-existent state, in one form or the other. Hence the impression is left, that this tradition 1s suppressed in the present context and the possibility remains, that a fragment describing the conditions and abodes of the unborn spirits is missing, which originally would have had its place after vs. 2. (3) After that I went to interpret etc., lit. “after that I went and studied this scriptural passage and I found according as it is written etc.’ ‘This scriptural passage’ means the well-known scriptural passage traditionally used as support for the doctrines concerning the subject in question. The passage, Isa. Ivii. 6, adduced here, is the starting point for the speculations as to the conditions of the unborn spirits both in TB. Chag. 12b and Yeb. 62a, ‘Aboda Zara, 3a, Nidda, 13 a (see above). Acc. to the J. Targum, ad locum, it is also used with reference to the doctrine of resurrection. Here the way in which the passage is used for its present purpose is set forth thus: the former part of the verse, ‘the spirit was clothed before me, is made to refer to the spirits that have been created, that is to say, apparently, clothed with a body, the latter part, ‘the souls I have made, is interpreted as referring to the spirits that are formed by God but not yet created, invested with a body. that have been created in the GUPH of creation of the righteous, the chamber of creative forms designed for the righteous. The GUPH (= body) is then here not the chambers where the spirits dwell until the time appointed for CHH.XLII,XLIV| METATRON SHOWS R. ISHMAEL SECRETS 135 before the Holy One, blessed be He; (and the words:) “and the souls I have made” refer to the spirits‘ of the righteous that have not yet been created in the chamber (GUPA).