Legends of Old Testament characters, from the Talmud and other sourcesBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Religion
Legends of Old Testament characters, from the Talmud and other sources
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends
Then the wrath of God blazed forth, and a thundering was heard so great
and terrible that they fainted and died. But Moses feared, and he prayed
to God, and God restored the seventy men to life again, and they came
down the Mount with him.[526]
And it was at this time that the face of Moses shone with the splendour
which had come upon him from the brightness of the glory of the Lord’s
Shekinah in the time of His speaking with him. And Aaron and all the
sons of Israel saw Moses, and, behold, the glory of his face was
dazzling, so that they were afraid to come near to him. And Moses called
to them, and Aaron, and all the princes of the congregation; and he
taught them all that the Lord had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. And when
Moses spoke with them, he had a veil upon his face; and when he went up
to speak with the Lord, he removed the veil from his countenance until
he came forth.[527]
This was the reason why the face of Moses shone. He saw the light which
God had created, whereby Adam was enabled to see from one end of the
earth to the other. God showed this light now to Moses, and thereby he
was able to see to Dan.[528]
When Moses went up into the Mount, a cloud received him, and bore him
into heaven. On his way, he met the door-keeper Kemuel, chief of twelve
thousands of angels of destruction; they were angels of fire; and he
would have prevented Moses from advancing: then Moses pronounced the
Name in twelve letters, revealed to him by God from the Burning Bush,
and the angel and his host recoiled before that word twelve thousand
leagues. But some say that Moses smote the angel, and wounded him.
A little further, Moses met another angel; this was Hadarniel, who had a
terrible voice, and every word he uttered split into twelve thousand
lightnings; he reigned six hundred thousand leagues higher than Kemuel.
Moses, in fear, wept at his voice, and would have fallen out of the
cloud, had not God restrained him. Then the prophet pronounced the Name
of seventy-two letters, and the angel fled.
Next he came to the fiery angel Sandalfon, and he would have fallen out
of the cloud, but God held him up. Then he reached the river of flame,
called Rigjon, which flows from the beasts which are beneath the Throne,
and is filled with their sweat; across this God led him.[529]
It is asserted by the Rabbis that Moses learnt the whole law in the
forty days that he was in the Mount, but as he descended from the
immediate presence of God, he entered the region where stood the angels
guarding the Mount, and when he saw the Angel of Fear, the Angel of
Sweat, the Angel of Trembling, and the Angel of Cold Shuddering, he was
so filled with consternation, that he forgot all that he had learnt.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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