Sepher Raziel HaMalach
The Sepher Raziel HaMalach (Hebrew: ספר רזיאל המלאך 'Book of Raziels the Angel') is a grimoire from the 13th century, which is also known under the names Sepher Raziel and Book of Raziel .
confusion
The Sepher Raziel HaMalach is often confused with the medieval grimoire Sepher Ha-Razim . The Sefer Ha-Razim is
- a stand-alone book and
- included in some versions of the Sepher Raziel HaMalach .
The Sepher Ha-Razim can be found in most versions of the Sepher Raziel HaMalach in the sixth chapter. The mix-up must be attributed to James George Frazer . In his work Folklore in the Old Testament , he writes that “ Noah learned from sacred scriptures how to build the ark. That scripture was given to Adam through the angel Raziel. All knowledge should be found in it; the human as well as the divine. ”The confusion could also have arisen from two misconceptions. Sepher (Hebrew סֵפֶר) means 'book' in Hebrew and is often found in the title of medieval grimoires. The first misconception arose because the name Raziel (Hebrew רָזִיאֵל 'God's secret') and Razim (Hebrew 'secrets') can be traced back to the same word root: raz (Hebrew רָז). HaMalach (Hebrew הַמַּלְאָךְ) means: 'the angel'. The second misconception is based on a content misunderstanding. In Sefer Razim instructions are conveyed to building an ark to Noah. The Sefer Raziel HaMalakh was taken according to the legend of Noah into the ark. In the Sepher Raziel nothing can be read about Noah or the ark.
Legend
After Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden , they became aware of the scope of their sin. Adam therefore began to pray. God heard him and sent the angel Raziel to them. He was to convey to them those divine secrets that would lead Adam and Eve back to Paradise. Some legends tell that the angel came to Adam at the age of 130. Another legend tells that Adam was only visited at 635. According to legend, this holy scripture was engraved on a sapphire tablet.
According to rabbinical tradition, the book was stolen from the cherubim . They did not agree that Adam should be given such knowledge. They threw it into the depths of the sea. Thereupon God ordered the angel Rehab to dive for the book and give it back to Adam.
Then the book came from Adam into the hands of Noah. Noah saved it over the flood and gave it to Abraham . Abraham immigrated to Egypt . There, Egyptians and Jews alike studied the book. Centuries later - during the forty years of wandering through the desert - Moses was initiated into the secrets of Sepher Raziel HaMalach through Metatron ( Enoch ) . The knowledge is said to have passed from Moses to David and then to Solomon . King Solomon is still considered to be the wisest person on earth and a master of Kabbalah .
history
There are many different versions of the Sefer Raziel . There are editions in different languages with different content. Most historians date the book to the 13th century and in the literary circles of King Alfonso X , who is also called Alfonso the Wise (1221–1284). He founded a translation academy in Toledo composed of Jews , Christians and Muslims . There, Arabic and Jewish works were translated into Latin and Spanish.
The book of Raziel is said to come from Alfonso's translation academy. Not as a result of a translation, but as a composite conception of older texts. It would therefore be around eight centuries old in this form, but composed of older texts.
Some historians believe that it came from a Jewish scholar of the Middle Ages; either by Eleazar von Worms (1160-1238) or by Isaac the Blind (1160-1235). The first printed Sepher Raziel dates back to 1701 and was distributed from Amsterdam.
Bibliographical mentions
Early humanists such as Johannes Trithemius (1462–1516) and Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (1486–1535) used the Sefer Raziel as an extensive source of quotations for their works. Even Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464), Johannes Reuchlin (1455-1522) and Guillaume Postel (1510-1581) were familiar with this book. There is little bibliographic information on the Sepher Raziel . It is mentioned in the Sword of Moses , in the Dictionary of Angels by Gustav Davidsons, and in the appendix to the translation of Sefer Jetzira by Aryeh Kaplan . It also says that there were 25 different editions of the book in the 19th century. The Sepher Raziel is also mentioned in James Hastings Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics . Joshua Trachtenberg mentions in his book Jewish Magic and Superstition an edition of Sepher Raziel in German that differs entirely from the version from Amsterdam (1701). Bill Rebiger and Peter Schäfer have published an edition of the Hebrew manuscripts and the Latin version of Sefer ha-Razim ( Sefer ha-Razim I and II - Das Buch der Secrets I and II , Mohr Siebeck Verlag: Tübingen 2009).
Issues and references
- Steve Savedow: Sepher Rezial Hemelach: The Book of the Angel Rezial - Red Wheel / Weiser / Conari (English) ISBN 978-1-57863-168-1
- Avraham Yaakov Finkel: Kabbalah: Selections From Classic Kabbalistic Works From Raziel Hamalach To The Present Day - Targum Pr 2003 (English) ISBN 978-1-56871-218-5
- James George Frazer: Folklore in the Old Testament - Avenel Abridged (English) ISBN 978-0-517-67251-8