Apocalypses Featuring "Ten Signs"

APOCALYPSES FEATURING ‘TEN SIGNS’ ( ) One popular feature of the Near Eastern apocalyptic lexicon involved the enumeration of a series of ‘signs’ or ‘portents’ which were held to signal the imminent approach of the End. These signs range freely through a broad variety of natural disruptions and cataclysms, social upheavals, political disturbances, and ominous preternatural occurrences. Many of these are shaped by and explicitly tied to scriptural passages which allegedly presage one or more of these events, whereas others belong to the more nebulous realm of traditional lore. Unlike the crucial references to identifiable personages or events (vaticinia ex eventu) in the so-called ‘historical apocalypses’ of early Judaism or Christianity, these mythologoumena rarely shed light on determining the precise period when the work which employs such a list was composed, apart from the production of vague analytical generalities like ‘Byzantine’ or ‘post-Islamic.’ Nevertheless the frequent and prominent exploitation of this sort of roster by Jews, Christians, and Muslims over the course of at least a millennium of their intertwined literary activity suggests that a comparative examination of a representative sampling of the phenomenon might aid our understanding of the interrelationships linking discrete forms of Near Eastern apocalypticism. 1 Lists of eschatological portents or ‘signs’ in Jewish apocalypses are sometimes catalogued under the rubrics of the ‘footprints of the Messiah’ ( ), a syntagm based on an enigmatic phrase in Ps 89:522 and more fully developed in m. Soṭah 9.15,3 or the ‘agony of the Messiah’ (  ),4 a 1 Important methodological observations whose utility extend well beyond their immediate context can be found in David Frankfurter, Elijah in Upper Egypt: The Apocalypse of Elijah and Early Egyptian Christianity (SAC; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993), 106-27; 195-200. 2     ‘who scorn the footsteps of Your Messiah,’ rendered by the Targum as       . 44 locution whose graphic birth-imagery underscores the emergence of the novel order to which the world’s inhabitants must adapt at the advent of the messianic era. Some scholars have suggested that the notion of a progressive series of worsening end-time sufferings and woes was dictated by the Jewish adoption of a foreign conceptual model of universal history which likened the expected duration of the universe to that of the lifespan of an organic entity. Characterized by good health and vigor during its early stages of life, the world falls victim to increasing weakness, structural breakdown, and physical decline as old age ensues.5 The analogous exploitation by the author of Daniel 2 of an originally Indo-European scheme correlating the successive stages of world history with a sequential series of metals or other mineral substances of decreasing value demonstrates the cross-cultural attraction of this type of conceptual structure for those engaged in the construction of apocalyptic models.6 A cursory examination of the earlier Hellenistic and Roman era apocalypses uncovers a rich treasury of signs and occurrences which supposedly mark the end of the present world order.7 They are usually assembled together as catalogues or lists, exhibiting little semantic or logical connection among their components, and are most frequently addressed as a response to a seer’s query about a timetable for the end. Occasionally variant lists of signs are provided within the same apocalypse. 8 These lists can vary widely with regard to their editorial arrangement. Generally speaking, the later apocalypses tend to adopt one (or more) numerical schemes which pattern the ‘signs’ in accordance with certain symbolic numbers; for example, ‘seven’ (based on the number of planets, the number of days in a week, or the positioning of 3 It is likely that this mishnah represents a later supplemental addition to the tractate drawn from two baraitot contained in b. Sanh. 97a. See anokh Albeck, ed., Shishah sidrei Mishnah (6 vols.; Jerusalem and Tel Aviv: Mosad Bialik and Devir, 1957-59), 3:394; Ephraim E. Urbach, The Sages: Their Concepts and Beliefs (2 vols.; 2d ed.; Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1979), 2:1000 n.92; Rivka Nir, The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Idea of Redemption in the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (SBLEJL 20; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003), 128 n.23. 4 For the phrase, see Mek. Beshala , Va-yassa‘ §4 (Horovitz-Rabin, 169.10-12), §5 (Horovitz-Rabin, 170.13-15); b. Šabb. 118a; Pesaḥ. 118a; Sanh. 98b. Compare Matt 24:8; Mark 13:8 (). 5 Note 4 Ezra 5:48-56 where Ezra’s angelic informant compares the present time to an aging woman at the end of her childbearing years. See also 14:10 (‘for the world has lost its youth, and the times draw closer to old age’ [Syriac]); 2 Bar. 85:10. 6 See John J. Collins, The Apocalyptic Vision of the Book of Daniel (HSM 16; Missoula, Mont.: Scholars Press, 1977), 40-43; Arnaldo Momigliano, “The Origins of Universal History,” in his On Pagans, Jews, and Christians (Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1987), 31-57. 7 Note 1 En. 93:1-10 + 91:12-17; Jub. 23:11-25; Matt 24:3-44; Mark 13:3-36; Sib. Or. 2.154-213; 3.796808; 4 Ezra 4:52-5:13; 6:20-24; 8:63-9:6; 2 Bar. 24:3-30:5; 48:30-41; 70:1-71:2; Apoc. Abr. 29:15-30:8. For a convenient narrative review of these end-time signs, see D. S. Russell, The Method & Message of Jewish Apocalyptic: 200 BC – AD 100 (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1964), 271-76. 8 Compare the passages from 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch cited in the preceding note. 45 the Sabbath in the creation-week), ‘ten’ (based on the number of plagues leveled against Egypt, or the expected number of world empires), or ‘twelve’ (based on the number of months of a year, the number of signs of the zodiac, or the number of the sons of Jacob). B. Sanh. 97a for example arranges its list in accordance with a sabbatical scheme:9 ‘Our Sages have taught (that) the septennial cycle () wherein the Son of David comes (will transpire as follows): the first year this verse will be fulfilled—“I will make it rain on one city, but on another city I will not allow it to rain” (Am 4:7); the second (year), the “arrows of famine” (cf. Ezek 5:16) will be unleashed; the third (year will have) a severe famine in which men, women, children, pious ones, and miracle-workers will die, (and) Torah will be forgotten by those who learned it; in the fourth (year) will be an alternation between plenty and poverty; in the fifth (year there will be) great plenty, and they will eat, drink, and celebrate, and the Torah will return to those who learned it; in the sixth (year) noises;10 in the seventh (year) battles. At the end of the septennial cycle will come the Son of David.’ Islamic eschatology also schematizes a number of catastrophic events which mark the advent of what the Qur’ān terms the ‘Hour’ (al-sā‘a), the cataclysmic moment which ushers in the Day of Judgment (yawm al-qiyāma).11 These occurrences are usually designated, on the basis of Q 47:18, as the ‘signs of the Hour’ (ashrāṭ al-sā‘a). Most of these signs are signaled at various places in the Qur’ān: earthquakes,12 smoke,13 the darkening of the luminaries, 14 the rolling up or splitting apart of the heavens, 15 the opening of 9 For a slightly variant text, see also Pesiq. Rab Kah. 5.9 (Mandelbaum, 1:97-98). . Either shouts or blasts of the shofar. 11 For initial guidance regarding the topic of qur’ānic and Islamic eschatology, see the discussions and references supplied by L. Gardet, “Ḳiyāma,” EI2 5:235-38; Uri Rubin, “Sā‘a,” EI2 8:655-57; Frederik Leemhuis, “Apocalypse,” EncQur 1:111-14; Jane I. Smith, “Eschatology,” EncQur 2:44-54; Isaac Hasson, “Last Judgment,” EncQur 3:136-45. 12 Q 73:14; 81:3; 99:1-3. For earthquake as an accompaniment to the biblical ‘Day of the Lord,’ see Isa 13:13; 24:18-20; Jer 4:24; Ezek 38:19-20; Joel 2:10; Zech 14:4-5; and cf. Ps 29:6; 46:3-4, 7. 13 Q 44:10. 14 Q 75:8. The biblical ‘Day of the Lord’ is also marked by a darkening of sun, moon, and stars; see Isa 13:10; Jer 4:23, 28; Joel 2:10. 15 For the folding or rolling up of the heavens, see Q 21:104. For the splitting or parting of the heavens, see Q 25:25; 55:37; 69:16; 73:18; 82:1; 84:1. 10 46 tombs,16 and trumpet blasts or shouts.17 A mysterious ‘beast’ (dābba) will emerge from the earth (Q 27:82; cf. Rev 13:11), and Yājūj and Mājūj (i.e., Gog and Magog) will break loose from their place of imprisonment (Q 18:93-99; 21:96). The Qur’ān, however, does not prescribe a fixed order for these occurrences, nor does it specify in most cases who or what produces them, nor does it provide a timetable for gauging the period of their occurrence. When the people press Mu ammad as to when the ‘Hour’ will come, he stresses that only God is privy to this information: ‘They ask you about the Hour, when it will strike. Say: “The knowledge thereof is with my Lord; none but He will disclose it at the right time. It will be fateful in the heavens and on earth, and will not come upon you except suddenly”’ (Q 7:187). 18 In order to retrieve a more comprehensive presentation of Muslim apocalyptic traditions and of the ‘signs of the Hour,’ it is necessary to consult the post-qur’ānic commentators and tradents of ḥadīth who were active during the first three Islamic centuries. 19 Despite the qur’ānic warnings, these ḥadīth often contain traditions which attempt to predict the timing of the Hour, or at least emphasize its imminence. Traditions regarding the ‘signs’ were often assembled in collections of malāḥim (‘wars’)20 and fitan (‘strife, disorders’)21 which attempted to correlate the qur’ānic data with other parascriptural elements drawn from a variety of written and oral sources, both native and foreign. One noteworthy example of such a nonqur’ānic element is the legend surrounding the manifestation of a sinister adversary known as the Dajjāl, a figure who clearly corresponds both in type and function to the character of Armilos in the medieval Jewish apocalypses and to that of the Antichrist in Byzantine and oriental Christian compositions. 22 According to some of these traditions, the Dajjāl (like his Jewish and Christian analogues) will march upon Jerusalem, 16 Q 82:4; 100:9. Q 18:99; 39:68; 50:20, 41-42. 18 See also Q 33:63; 79:42-46. Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations from the Qur’ān are cited from An Interpretation of the Qur’an: English Translation of the Meanings, A Bilingual Edition (trans. Majid Fakhry; New York: New York University Press, 2002). 19 See now the important observations and bibliographical references supplied by David Cook, Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic (Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam 21; Princeton: Darwin Press, 2002), 1-33. 20 This term is often used in Arabic literature of battles associated with eschatological events. For its possible connection with Jewish apocalyptic vocabulary, see the remarks of Chaim Rabin, Qumran Studies (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1957; repr., New York: Schocken Books, 1975), 118-19. Note also Moritz Steinschneider, “Apokalypsen mit polemischer Tendenz,” ZDMG 28 (1874): 628-29 n.3. 21 Arabic fitna (the singular of fitan) refers to the process of refining impurities from metals and is thus conceptually cognate with Hebrew apocalyptic formulas featuring the stem . For an excellent exposition, see Cook, Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic, 20-21. 22 The Arabic term al-dajjāl ( ‫ )ﻝ ﺟﺪﻟ‬in fact is derived from the Syriac designation for the ‘Antichrist’ or 17 ‘pseudo-Messiah’ ( ); cf. 1 John 2:22. 47 but he will be confronted and slain by ‘ sā (i.e., Jesus), who will descend from heaven in order to accomplish this feat. There are also persistent traditions predicting the recovery or reappearance of ancient artifacts like the staff of Moses or the Israelite Ark of the Covenant. The sheer quantity and diversity of these speculations bear witness to the fructifying effect of contemporary Jewish and Christian apocalyptic legends upon the development of Islamic eschatology. It is surely not coincidental that a large number of these ‘apocalyptic prophecies’ derive ultimately from Ka‘b al-A bār (d. 654), a learned Yemeni Jewish convert to Islam.23 Collections24 of fitan commonly list a numerical series of ‘signs’ which mark the advent of the ‘Hour.’ These vary widely in number and content, and little scholarly effort has been expended to date in attempting to analyze and clarify their interrelationships.25 In addition to the material mentioned above, events commonly mentioned include military disasters, wars (malāḥim) with ancient and contemporary enemies such as the Jews, Byzantines, or the Turks, civil strife, devastating plagues, and the manifestation of individual ‘sectarian’ actors like the Qa ān , the ‘Pure Soul’ (al-Nafs al-Zakiyya), or the Mahd . One such example of an early catalogue of signs is attributed to Wahb ibn Munabbih (d. 728?), yet another prominent tradent of biblical and Jewish lore in early Islam: 26 ‘He (i.e., Wahb) said: First are portents See Wilferd Madelung, “Apocalyptic Prophecies in imṣ in the Umayyad Age,” JSS 31 (1986): 143; for examples of Ka‘b’s important role as a conduit of Jewish eschatology to early Islam, see Uri Rubin, Between Bible and Qur’ān: The Children of Israel and the Islamic Self-Image (Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam 17; Princeton: The Darwin Press, 1999), 13-35. The figure of Ka‘b was also known among Christian polemicists: see Ms. Sachau 10 fol. 5a-b as published by Richard Gottheil, “A Christian Bahira Legend,” ZA 13 (1898): 212-13:                23                     ‘then after the death of the blessed Sergius, a man arose among the Jews whose name was Ka‘f the scribe who was a scholar and prophet among them. He perverted the teaching of Sergius, for he said to them: “the one about whom Christ spoke (saying) «he will come to them after the Paraclete» is Mu ammad.”’ For further important discussion of the role of Ka‘b in early Islam, see Mark Lidzbarski, De propheticis, quae dicuntur, legendis arabicis: Prolegomena (Lipsiae: Guilelmi Drugulini, 1893), 31-40; also Reuven Firestone, “Jewish Culture in the Formative Period of Islam,” in Cultures of the Jews: A New History (ed. David Biale; New York: Schocken, 2002), 291-98. 24 Three early collections are those of Ya yā b. ‘Abd al-Hamid al-Hamani (d. 228/842); Nu‘aym b. ammād (d. 229/844); and anbal b. Is āq (d. 273/886). See now Nu‘aym b. ammād, Kitāb al-fitan (ed. S. Zakkār; Beirut: Dār al-Fikr lil- ibā‘ah wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawz ‘, 1993), and the important bibliographic remarks supplied by Cook, Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic, 24-29. 25 For now, see Saïd Amir Arjomand, “Islamic Apocalypticism in the Classical Period,” in The Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism (3 vols.; ed. Bernard McGinn et al.; New York and London: Continuum, 1998), 2:238-83, esp. 248-65; Cook, Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic, a ground-breaking study which inaugurates a new era in the comparative understanding of this material. 26 See the important article by R. G. Khoury, “Wahb b. Munabbih, Abū ‘Abd Allāh,” EI2 11:34-36.  48 associated with (the fall of) Rome (i.e., Constantinople); second, the Dajjāl; third, Yājūj and Mājūj; fourth, ‘ sā b. Maryam; fifth, smoke; and sixth, the dābba.’27 Of interest in the present context are lists which enumerate ten signs. The constituent elements most often cited in such lists include (1) smoke; (2) the rising of the sun in the west; 28 (3) the appearance of the dābba; (4) the appearance of the Dajjāl; (5) fire emanating from Yemen; (6) Yājūj and Mājūj; i.e., Gog and Magog; (7) the descent of ‘ sā from heaven; (8) an avalanche in the east; (9) an avalanche in the west; and (10) an avalanche in the Arabian peninsula. 29 Uri Rubin refers to another ‘ten sign’ scheme found in the Jāmi‘ of Ma‘mar b. Rāshid (d. 154 AH). There we read: (1-3) three separate instances where people are swallowed up by the earth; (4) the appearance of the Dajjāl; (5) the descent of ‘ sā from heaven; (6) the appearance of the dābba; (7) smoke; (8) Gog and Magog; (9) a cold wind which draws out the souls of the believers; and (10) the rising of the sun in the west. 30 1. ’OTOT OF R. ŠIM‘ŌN BEN YŌḤAI31 Ten signs were revealed to R. Šim‘ōn b. Yō ai (may his memory be for a blessing!) which will transpire in the world when the Messiah’s advent is near—may he be revealed soon! The first sign: three fiery columns will descend from heaven, and they will remain upright extending from the earth up to the sky for three days and three nights. Due to the mighty power which they are beholding, all of the gentile nations will arise and grasp hold of Israel, saying to them: ‘Make fringe on the edge of our garments for us!’32 Israel will make fringe for them, as scripture attests: ‘for ten individuals Nu‘aym b. ammād, K. al-fitan (ed. Zakkār), 402. According to b. Sanh. 108b, this same sign signaled the imminent advent of the Deluge. Note also Moritz Steinschneider, “Apokalypsen mit polemischer Tendenz: Nachträge zu Bd. XXVIII S. 627ff.,” ZDMG 29 (1875): 163. 29 Neal Robinson, “Antichrist,” EncQur 1:110. 30 Rubin, EI2 8:656. 31 From a Genizah manuscript published by Arthur Marmorstein, “Les signes du Messie,” REJ 52 (1906): 176-86; another Genizah manuscript published by Michael Higger, Halakhot va-aggadot (New York: The Jewish Theological Seminary, 1933), 115-23; Yehudah Even-Shmuel, Midreshey Ge’ullah (2d ed.; Jerusalem: Mosad Bialik, 1954), 311-14, and cf. his textual notes on 422-24. 32 Cf. Num 15:37-41. 27 28 49 from every gentile group will grasp and take strong hold of the shirttail of every Jew, saying “Let us come with you, for we have heard that God is with you!”’ (Zech 8:23). The Holy One, blessed be He, will place portents in the sky and on the earth, as scripture states: ‘I will place portents in the heavens and on earth: blood, fire, and columns of smoke’ (Joel 3:3).33 And why does the (portent of) blood precede that of the fire? Because the same sequence was followed in Egypt.34 The second sign: three individuals will come forth. One of them will stand on the grave and resurrect the dead; one will restore sight to the eyes of the blind; and one will cure the lame by using incantations. Eighty thousand Israelites will go astray by following them, but they are in fact not authentic Israelites; rather, they are the descendants of the Gibeonites 35 and the assorted riff-raff ()36 who mixed themselves with Israel (in the past). The Holy One, blessed be He, will purge them all (from Israel), as scripture states: ‘I will purge them (of dross) as one purges silver’ (Zech 13:9). 37 The third sign: the Holy One, blessed be He, will cause three rainbows to appear in the sky, and they will remain (visible) in the sky for three days and three nights. Their lengths will span the entire world. All of the gentile peoples will be overcome with great fear, and they will say: ‘Is the Holy One, blessed be He, intending to bring a flood upon the world?’ But He has already sworn an oath not to bring a flood upon the world, as scripture confirms: ‘for this is (like) the waters of Noah to Me, which I swore I would never bring again …’ (Isa 54:9). In the same way that He swore that He would not bring a flood, He also swore that He would not express anger, as scripture states: ‘thus I have sworn not to be angry with you or to rebuke you’ (Isa 54:9). The Holy One, blessed be He, will wrap Israel in strength on that day, as scripture says: ‘the bows of the mighty ones are broken; those who stumble are wrapped in strength’ (1 Sam 2:4). 33 See Ibn Ezra and Radaq ad loc., both of whom emphasize that the blood is a terrestrial sign as opposed to the ‘heavenly’ signs of fire and smoke. 34 For the notion that Israel’s ‘historical’ deliverance from Egyptian bondage functions as a model for her eschatological redemption, see Pesiq. Rab Kah. 7.11 (Mandelbaum, 1.132-33); Pesiq. Rab. §17 (IshShalom, 90a-b); Midr. Tanḥ., Bo’ §4. 35 See Josh 9:3-27; 2 Sam 21:2. 36 See Exod 12:38; Num 11:4 and Rashi ad loc. 37 Compare the Christian Apoc.Ps-Meth. 13.4 (ed. Reinink): ‘the faithful will appear and the unfaithful will become manifest, the wheat separated from the chaff; for this time is a fire of trial.’ David M. Olster points out that the ‘apocalyptic genre’ facilitates the transformation of what looks like a defeat into a crucial component of the divine scheme for achieving final victory; see his Roman Defeat, Christian Response, and the Literary Construction of the Jew (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994), 7; idem, “Byzantine Apocalypses,” in McGinn et al., eds., Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism, 2:61. 50 And who are ‘those who stumble’? They are Israel, for thus scripture says: ‘You have wrapped me in strength to do battle’ (2 Sam 22:40). The fourth sign: a rain will fall from the sky for three days and three nights, a rain consisting not of water but of blood. The eighty thousand who had previously gone astray after the apostles of the Lie 38 will drink from that fluid and die. Every man and woman who has followed them will drink and die. The fifth sign: the Holy One, blessed be He, will cause a dew to fall from the sky for three days and three nights, and it will nullify the deadly effects of that blood which had previously fallen upon the earth. It will make the grain sprout. All the gentile peoples and nations will think that it is rain, but actually it will be only dew, as scripture promises: ‘I will be like dew for Israel: he will bloom like a lily and extend his roots like Lebanon. His shoots will spread, and his beauty will be like that of an olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon. Those who dwell in his shade will return and sprout (like) grain’ (Hos 14:6-8). The sixth sign: all the gentile peoples will experience darkness for three days and three nights, but Israel will have light, as scripture states: ‘for behold, darkness will cover the earth and thick darkness (will cover) the nations, but the Lord will shine upon you’ (Isa 60:2). All of the gentile peoples will be overcome with great fear, and they will come and bow down before Israel, saying: ‘“Let us come with you, for we have heard that God is with you!”’ (Zech 8:23). The seventh sign: the king of Edom (i.e., Rome) will come forth and enter Jerusalem. All of the Ishmaelites39 will flee from him and go to Tēman. They will assemble a mighty army, and there shall go forth with them a man whose name is ō er ().40 He will become king, and all of them will go to Boṣra. The king of Edom will hear (about this) and come after them. These two will fight a battle, as is said in scripture: ‘for the Lord will have a sacrifice in Boṣra, a great slaughter in the land of Edom’ (Isa 34:6).41 Scripture also states: ‘those who eat the flesh of swine and the detestable thing and mice will 38  . Marmorstein conjectures that the name ‘Ishmael’ is used in this apocalypse to connote the Sasanian Empire (“Les signes,” 178-79). There is of course no exegetical justification for this equation. 40 The Genizah recension published by Marmorstein gives his name as Manṣūr (). Interestingly both designations bear a ‘messianic’ significance: for ō er, see Isa 11:1; y. Ber. 2.4, 5a; for Manṣūr, see Cook, Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic, 76, 144-47. 41 Perhaps a reference to the fall of Bostra in 634 to the invading Arab armies, which according to Muslim legend was the first Byzantine stronghold to fall to Islam. See Armand Abel, “Boṣrā,” EI2 1:1275-77; Fred M. Donner, The Early Islamic Conquests (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981), 129, 140, 145; Moshe Gil, A History of Palestine, 634-1099 (trans. Ethel Broido; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 39 51 perish together—utterance of the Lord’ (Isa 66:17). Edom will flee from him. But ō er will kill many of the Edomites, and the king of ō er will die, and the king of Edom will return to Jerusalem a second time. He will enter the sanctuary, take the golden crown off his head, and place it on the foundation-stone.42 He will then say: ‘Master of the Universe! I have now returned what my ancestors removed ….’ 43 There will be trouble during his time. The eighth sign: the Holy One, blessed be He, will ‘suddenly’ bring forth Nehemiah b. Hushiel, who is the Messiah of the lineage of Joseph. ‘Suddenly’ accords with what scripture says: ‘suddenly the Lord whom you seek will enter His Temple’ (Mal 3:1).44 He will do battle with the king of Edom and kill him, and will then put on the crown which the king of Edom had returned to Jerusalem. 45 The fame of Nehemiah will become widespread in the world. The ninth sign: a man will come forth from the city of Rome whose name is Armilos b. Satan, spawned from a stone statue located in Rome. The statue is that of a woman, and Satan will come and have sexual intercourse with it, and it will give birth to this man. On the day when he is spawned he will be as if he is one hundred years old. He will come and wage war at Alexandria and destroy the entire sea-coast. Woe to the one (unlucky enough) to be seized by his hand! He will come to Gaza by himself and establish his throne there.46 [These are his signs]: he will be ten cubits tall …. He will sit there upon his throne and utter profanities and blasphemies. He will say to the gentile nations: ‘I am God! Bring me my Torah which I gave to you!’ They will bring him the images of their idols, and he will respond: ‘this is indeed the 1992), 40; Walter E. Kaegi, Byzantium and the Early Islamic Conquests (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), 83. 42 The  . See m. Yoma 5.2. According to t. Yoma 2.14 (ed. Lieberman), the ark of the covenant once occupied this space. For the mythological traditions associated with this numinous locale, see especially Michael Fishbane, Biblical Myth and Rabbinic Mythmaking (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 126-29. 43 See Even-Shmuel, Midreshey Ge’ullah, 296 n.39. This act of surrender represents a Jewish adaptation of the popular Christian legend of the ‘last Roman Emperor’ found in many Byzantine apocalypses; note also Olster, Roman Defeat, 174; Cook, Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic, 76. For an extensive discussion of this legend, see Paul J. Alexander, The Byzantine Apocalyptic Tradition (ed. Dorothy deF. Abrahamse; Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985), 151-84; idem, “The Medieval Legend of the Last Roman Emperor and its Messianic Origin,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 41 (1978): 1-15. 44 See Ibn Ezra ad loc. 45 According to the Christian legend, the crown which the Last Emperor surrenders is miraculously transported to heaven atop an ascending cross. Nehemiah’s deliberate expropriation of this potent symbol is an ingenious polemical twist. 46 Another recension reads here: ‘He will come to the city of ‘Amwās (Emmaus?), the city of his father. He will establish his throne upon it. And these are his signs ….’ Emmaus was a principal mustering place for the Arab armies during the seventh-century conquest of Eretz Israel; see Gil, History of Palestine, 60 n.63. 52 Torah which I gave you!’ He will then say to the children of Israel: ‘Bring your Torah!’ Thirty people from the leadership of Israel will enter along with Nehemiah b. Hushiel, and they will bring him a Torah scroll. He will say: ‘I do not believe in this Torah!’ They will answer (him): ‘If you do not believe in this Torah, then you are not God but Satan! “May the Lord rebuke you, O Satan!”’ 47 At that time he will seize those thirty Israelites who came with Nehemiah, and he will burn them together with the Torah. Then he will say to Nehemiah, ‘Now do you not believe in me?’ He will answer him: ‘I put my faith in no one but the God of Israel, the God of heaven who gave His Torah through the agency of Moses our teacher! He is the One in Whom I believe!’ He (Armilos) will issue an order to execute him (Nehemiah) in the Temple of his God, for he had immediately set his foot within the sanctuary. 48 So they will kill Nehemiah in Jerusalem, and his corpse will be discarded in Jerusalem. Israel will mourn for him, as scripture states: ‘and the land will mourn, every family separately’ (Zech 12:12). At that time Israel will experience great distress:* some will hide themselves in pits, and some of them will flee into the wilderness, where they will remain for forty days. Others will follow after them, and they will (all) cry out due to their distress. ‘At that time Michael, the great prince who watches over the sons of Your people, will arise’ 49 and say before Him: ‘Master of the Universe! Remember the oath which You swore to their ancestors, as well as what You promised them; (namely), “I will pardon those whom I let remain” (Jer 50:20)!’ And He will hearken to the prayer of Michael, the prince of all Israel. The tenth sign: the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring forth the Messiah of the lineage of David, the one who has been incarcerated in prison, and by his actions all Israel will be delivered. *Another recension expands these final two ‘signs’ as follows: Israel will experience great distress. They will hide themselves in caves and pits, and the rest of them will flee into the wilderness of ‘Ammon and Moab, as scripture states: ‘Let my dispersed ones sojourn among you, O Moab’ (Isa 16:4). They will wander about there for forty days, nourishing themselves with broom and salt-plant, for scripture says: ‘they pluck salt-plant (and) leaves of shrubbery and the root(s) of broom for their food’ (Job 30:4). Armilos b. Satan will come to the wilderness of Moab: 47 Quoting Zech 3:2. See above in the ‘eighth sign.’ 49 Dan 12:1. 48 53 this is the Armilos spawned from a stone of whom scripture speaks: ‘and he produced the wicked one with the stone’ (Zech 4:7).50 At that time the children of Israel will piteously cry out unto heaven, and Michael, the prince of the Throne of Glory, will be filled with mercy for them. He will stand in prayer before the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written: ‘At that time Michael, the great prince who watches over the sons of Your people, will arise’ (Dan 12:1)—the expression ‘standing’ () explicitly signifies that it will be a ‘prayer’—and he will say before Him, ‘Master of All Existence! Remember what You swore to their ancestors and to them, and what You said to Your servant Moses; (namely), “I will pardon in accordance with your words” (Num 14:20), and also “I will pardon those whom I let remain” (Jer 50:20)! Moreover, You Yourself called them “saints,” as scripture attests: “You are My saints” (Lev 20:26), and You have set them apart for the sake of Your Name!’ The Holy One, blessed be He, hearkened to the prayer of Michael regarding Israel at that time. Tenth sign: He will produce Menahem b. ‘Amiel, the Messiah of the lineage of David, 51 from the place of imprisonment, as scripture states: ‘for one came out of prison in order to reign’ (Qoh 4:14), and He will transport him upon a cloud, as scripture says: ‘and behold (one resembling a human being came) accompanied by the clouds of the sky’ (Dan 7:13). The distinguishing mark(s) of the royal Messiah: of high stature and his neck is thick; his face (shining) like the solar disk; his eyes flashing; the soles of his feet are thick … and he will exercise authority over all lands, and sovereignty, honor, and high rank will be granted him.52 Armilos will arise, and together with him will be assembled the seventy language-groups (i.e., gentile nations), as scripture states: ‘the rulers of the earth stand together’ (Ps 2:2), and all who stand before him will join him. But the Messiah of the lineage of David will put them to death, as scripture says: ‘he will slay the wicked with the breath of his mouth’ (Isa 11:4),53 and he will kill Armilos, the spawn of the stone, and he will deliver Israel. Then his fame will spread from one end of the world to the other. 50 The text needs to be translated along these lines in order to yield the target sense. The Masoretic Text of Zech 4:7 reads:     ‘and he (Zerubbabel) will produce the headstone (of the new Temple),’ but by sounding  (ha-ro’šah ‘the head, chief’) as  (ha-raša‘ ‘the wicked one’), the new reading can be generated. A similar oral pun lies behind the epithet for the Qumran villain known as ‘the Wicked Priest’ ( ; see 1QpHab passim) which plays on one of the Second Temple era designations for ‘high priest’ ( ; see Ezra 7:5 and Chronicles passim). 51 See Sefer Zerubbabel for a discussion of this name. 52 A Hebrew paraphrase of Dan 7:14. 53 See also 1QSb 5.24-25; cf. Pss. Sol. 17:24. 54 So the All-Merciful promises. May He bring that hour near and that appointed time to pass during our lifetime and the lifetime of all Israel, amen and amen! 2. TEN SIGNS54 Ten signs will transpire in the world prior to the End. The first sign: the Holy One, blessed be He, will send three <angels>55 out in three directions in the world, and they will promulgate atheism. They will make themselves appear to human beings (as if) they serve Him, (but in fact they do not) and they will subjugate all creatures. But at the End of Days all the gentile nations will renounce their native religions, as it is written: ‘and the idols will be completely destroyed,’56 and scripture states: ‘and the idols will totally vanish’ (Isa 2:18). (This will happen) because the Holy One, blessed be He, will manifest troubles in the world, each one different from the other. The second sign: the Holy One, blessed be He, will make the sun emerge from its sheath. 57 Every day He will scorch with it one million (people) from among the nations until all the nations begin weeping and saying: ‘Woe is us! Where will we go? To where might we flee?’ They will dig down (in) all the caverns in the earth in order to find a cool breeze for themselves, as scripture states: ‘they will enter rocky caves’ (Isa 2:19), and one will say to the other: ‘Go inside the rock! Hide yourself in the dirt!’ Malachi prophesied about that sun: ‘Behold, the day comes burning like an oven’ (Mal 3:19), but that sun will be 54 Originally published by Higger, Halakhot va-aggadot, 125-30; reprinted by Even-Shmuel, Midreshey Ge’ullah, 315-17 and cf. his textual notes on p. 425. A variant version of this work is attested in T-S A45.8 fol. 1, a photograph of which is published by Simon Hopkins, A Miscellany of Literary Pieces from the Cambridge Genizah Collections: A Catalogue and Selection of Texts in the Taylor-Schechter Collection, Old Series, Box A45 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Library, 1978), 16. This fragment is translated separately below. Note also the text entitled ‘Ten Signs’ ( ) found in the anthology  (Constantinople: Astruq de Toulon, 1519), 34a-35a. 55 Read  in place of ? 56 From the synagogal prayer ‘Alēnu; see Seder Rav ‘Amram and also Maḥzor Vitry §99. 57 See Gen. Rab. 6.6 (Theodor-Albeck, 46) and the notes of Theodor ad loc. According to this tradition, the notion of a celestial ‘screen’ or ‘sheath’ for the sun derives from Ps 19:5 (    ‘among them He placed a tent for the sun’). This ‘tent’ (i.e., sheath) serves to temper the sun’s heat on earth under normal circumstances, but here also the future loss of this sheath is envisioned: ‘in the time to come, the Holy One, blessed be He, will strip off its sheath from it and burn it (the world). What is the proof-text? ‘That coming day will burn them’ (Mal 3:19). Note also Midr. Tanḥ., Teṣawweh §8. 55 medicinal for Israel, as it is said: ‘O those who revere My name, a sun of righteousness will rise for you, and it will heal (you) with its wings’ (Mal 3:20). Balaam the wicked (also) prophesied about those troubles and said: ‘Woe to whoever is alive when God brings it about!’ (Num 24:23). The third sign: the Holy One, blessed be He, will rain a dew of blood for three days, but it will appear to the nations of the world to be a dew of water. They will drink of it and die. Moreover, (some) wicked ones among Israel will also drink of it and die, whereas others who are wavering (in their faith) will fall ill. The world will experience great distress during those three days, as scripture says: ‘I will place portents in the heavens and on earth: blood, fire, and columns of smoke’ (Joel 3:3). The fourth sign: the Holy One, blessed be He, will rain a dew of healing for three days and three nights—in order to counteract the effects of the blood—and all those who were wavering will drink of it, and those who had become ill will be cured, as scripture states: ‘I will be like dew for Israel; he will bloom like the lily’ (Hos 14:6). The fifth sign: a ruler shall arise in Rome, and he will devastate large areas. He will capture Egypt, as scripture affirms: ‘he will stretch his hand out against the north’ (Zeph 2:13). He will turn his anger upon Israel, laying a heavy tax upon them, and he will seek to make them perish from the world, as scripture states: ‘he will turn his face(s) toward the strongholds of his land’ (Dan 11:19): (the term ‘strongholds’ []) signifies those among Israel who are strong among the nations, and ‘his face(s)’ () signifies his anger and his wrath which he will direct against them. The sixth sign: the Holy One, blessed be He, will produce at that time the Messiah of the lineage of Joseph, whose name is Nehemiah ben Hushiel. He will be accompanied by warriors ‘from the descendants of Zerah the son of Judah’ (cf. Neh 11:24). He will come with all the forces of Israel who are in those places and fight a battle with the king of Edom and those rulers allied with him. He will kill the king of Edom and the remainder (of the latter’s army) will flee. He will approach Jerusalem and capture it, and all Israel will hear (of this) and gather themselves to him. The king of Egypt will conclude a peace treaty with him. He will kill all the nations who are in the environment of Jerusalem: 58 all the (remaining) nations will hear (of this), and a great fear will overcome them. 58 See Ezek 44:9; Joel 4:17; Pss. Sol. 17:28. 56 The seventh sign: Armilos will emerge from that stone statue of a woman which is in Rome. They say about him that the stone will give birth to him. He will be twelve cubits tall (literally ‘long’) and two cubits wide, and there will be between his eyes a space equaling one span. He is the Messiah of the descendants of Esau. He will gather all the nations, and then say to the descendants of Esau: ‘Bring to me the Torah which I gave you ….’ All Israel will suddenly be confused, but Nehemiah b. Hushiel will arise, he and thirty warriors with weapons (concealed) beneath their garments, and they will take a Torah scroll and bring it to him (i.e., to Armilos). They will read out before him: ‘You shall have no other gods before Me!’ (Exod 20:3). He will say to them: ‘This is not (my Torah) at all!’ Nehemiah will say to him: ‘You are no deity, only Satan!’ He will quickly flee, but he (Armilos) will command his servants, (saying), ‘Seize him and hang him!’ (Nevertheless he will effect his escape) and fight a battle with him and kill a large number of them. Then the wrath of Armilos will intensify, and he will assemble all the nations and come to do battle with Israel ‘between the seas and the beautiful holy mountain’ (Dan 11:45). Israel will effect a great slaughter among them, but he (Armilos) will kill the Messiah, and when Israel perceives that the Messiah has been slain, their courage will melt away and they will flee. The world will experience great trouble. They will hide themselves for twenty-five days in caves and in pits, and the rest will lock themselves within Jerusalem. He (Armilos) will turn toward her (Jerusalem) to wage war and destroy it for the second time, but he will not succeed (in doing so). The eighth sign: ‘at that time the great (angelic) leader Michael will arise’ (Dan 12:1), and at that time Elijah will come along with the Messiah of the lineage of David in order to fulfill what scripture has said: ‘he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to the fathers’ (Mal 3:24). The Messiah will not need to wage battle: he will only have to fix his eyes on Armilos in order to exterminate him from the world, as scripture states: ‘he will slay the wicked (one) with the breath of his mouth’ (Isa 11:4). The ninth sign: the Messiah will request of the Holy One, blessed be He, that He resurrect the dead. The Messiah of the lineage of Joseph will be the first of all those who are brought back to life, and he will become the emissary of the Messiah of the lineage of David. He will send him into all the lands wherein Israel dwells, and they will be gathered together from every corner of the earth. Then he will send him beyond the rivers of Cush, and he will lead forth the (lost) ten tribes. He will also bring out the Temple 57 vessels from Rome. (In) every place where the Messiah of the lineage of Joseph goes which contains Israelite dead, he will resurrect them and bring all of them with him, as scripture says: ‘behold, these will come from afar, [and behold, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Syene]’ (Isa 49:12). The tenth sign: the coming of Gog and Magog, just as is described in the book of Ezekiel. 59 May the Holy One, blessed be He, grant us the privilege of seeing it! Amen, may it happen quickly during our lifetime! May His will be done! Amen! *The following somewhat variant lines render T-S A45.8 fol. 1 based on the present author’s transcription of the photograph published by Hopkins, Miscellany, 16. The fragment commences toward the end of the sixth sign, beginning with the word . … they will flee before him (i.e., Nehemiah b. Hushiel). He will enter Egypt and capture it, and he will kill all the (gentile) nations in the vicinity of Jerusalem. All the nations will hear (about this), and fear and dread will fall upon them. The seventh sign: Armilos the Satan60 will emerge from the stone statue that is in Rome. They say with regard to him that the stone will give birth to him. He will be twelve cubits long, and between his two eyes is (the distance of) a span. He is the Messiah of the party of Esau. He will assemble all the nations and say to them: ‘I am God,’ and all the nations will believe him. He will say to the party of Esau: ‘Bring me the Torah which I gave to you!’ Then they will bring him their book of lies, 61 and he will assent, saying: ‘Truly this is what I gave to you!’ Israel will suddenly be confused, but Nehemiah b. Hushiel will come, he and thirty warriors accompanying him with weapons (concealed) beneath their garments, and they will take a Torah scroll and come to him and read aloud before him: ‘You shall have no other gods before Me!’ (Exod 20:3). He will say to them: ‘This is not (my Torah) at all!’ Nehemiah will say to him: ‘You are no deity, only Satan!’ Immediately he (Armilos) will cry out against him and say to his servants: ‘Seize him and hang him!’ He will do battle with them and kill many of them. Then the anger of Armilos will 59 See chaps. 38-39.  . 61  . 60 58 intensify, and he will gather all the nations and advance to make war on Israel ‘between the seas and the beautiful holy mountain’ (Dan 11:45). He will strike a great blow against Israel and will kill the Messiah. At that time the Holy One, blessed be He, will issue a command to the sun and it will at that time remain underground, and the world will be dark. Israel will experience great distress. When Israel sees that the Messiah is dead, their courage will fail and they will run away, and the world will experience extremely great distress. Israel will conceal themselves in caves for forty-five days, sustaining themselves (during that time) on weeds. Why was Armilos given the power to kill the Messiah of the lineage of Ephraim? It was done so as to break the hearts of those dissidents among Israel who said: ‘The Messiah for whom we were waiting has come and been killed. There is no longer any redemption for us in the wilderness.’ 62 Many of these will immediately commit apostasy and become joined with the gentile nations. But the gentile nations will slay them nevertheless, as scripture foresees: ‘they will kill with the sword all of those among My people who commit sin’ (Am 9:10). The eighth sign: ‘at that time the great (angelic) leader Michael will arise’ (Dan 12:1), and at that time Elijah will come along with the Messiah of the lineage of David in order to fulfill what scripture has said: ‘he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to the fathers’ (Mal 3:24). The Messiah will not need to wage battle: he will only have to fix his eyes on Armilos in order to exterminate him from the world, as scripture states: ‘he will slay the wicked (one) with the breath of his mouth’ (Isa 11:4). The ninth sign: the Messiah will request of the Holy One, blessed be He, that He resurrect the dead, and the Messiah of the lineage of Joseph will be resurrected first. (end of fragment) 3. ’OTOT HA-MAŠIAḤ (SIGNS OF THE MESSIAH)63 62 For the final clause, the manuscript appears to read     . Jellinek, BHM 2:58-63, who took it in turn from R. Makhir,    (Amsterdam: Nehemiah b. Abraham, 1716), 2b-5b. This edition reprints the Rimini imprint of 1526 (see 2b-4a), which is apparently the first printed edition. See M[oritz] Steinschneider, Catalogus librorum hebraeorum in bibliotheca Bodleiana (Berlin: Ad. Friedlaender, 1852-60), 1638-40. A variant version of this apocalypse appears in Oxford Ms. Heb. d. 11 (2797), the Sefer ha-Zikronot or the so-called Chronicles of Yeraḥmeel; see Eli Yassif, ed., Sefer ha-Zikronot hu’ Divrey ha-Yamim le-Yeraḥme’el (Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 2001), 436-42. Another edition is supplied by Even-Shmuel, Midreshey Ge’ullah, 318-23; cf. his textual notes on pp. 425-26. The translation and annotations found in David C. Mitchell, The Message of the Psalter: An 63 59 The first sign: The Holy One, blessed be He, will cause three kings to arise who are apostates from their religion. 64 They will behave deceptively, for they will make themselves appear to people (as if) they serve the Holy One, blessed be He, but they (in fact) do not serve (Him). They will lead astray and confuse the entire created order,65 and all the nations of the world will become apostates by following their laws. Moreover, (certain) wicked ones of Israel who have given up hope in (Israel’s) eventual redemption will commit apostasy against the Holy One, blessed be He, and abandon His veneration. Regarding this generation scripture states: ‘truth will be driven away’ (Isa 59:15). What does ‘driven away’ () mean?66 It means that those in possession of the truth will become like herds of animals ( ) and they will depart and flee and hide themselves among caves and underground burrows. 67 All the mighty ones of that generation will perish, faithful ones will cease to exist, the ‘gates of wisdom’ will be hidden, 68 and the world will become different.69 At that time there will be neither king nor prince in Israel, as scripture says: ‘Israel will dwell for many days without a king or a leader’ (Hos 3:4). Jacob will have no academy heads, no gaon, no faithful shepherds, no pious ones, and no wonder workers. 70 The celestial doors will be locked, and the gates of support and sustenance will be closed. At the time that the Messiah is revealed by His power, 71 a generation will depart and collapse into its grave while still alive72 due to the harsh, fickle, and disturbing things which those three kings decree. Eschatological Programme in the Book of Psalms (JSOTSup 252; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997), 308-14; 336-40 (text) must be used with caution. 64 Read  (Yassif, 436) in place of Jellinek’s . 65 Yassif:     ‘they will corrupt the entire created order.’ 66 Instead of this question, Yassif has simply  ‘that is to say ….’ 67 See m. Soṭah 9.15; b. Sanh. 97a; and especially Cant. Rab. 2.4:             ‘where does it (truth) go? The school of R. Yannai taught: It goes and takes up residence like flocks of animals in the wilderness.’ Cf. also Pesiq. Rab Kah. 5.9 (Mandelbaum, 1:98); Pesiq. Rab. §15 (Ish-Shalom, 75b). 68 Cf. b. Soṭah 13b, where the expression ‘gates of wisdom’ refers to the heavenly source of the Mosaic Torah. Yassif has instead    ‘all the wise men.’ 69 Yassif:    ‘and the world will become desolate.’ 70 Yassif:     ‘and no pious ones to annul [its] guilt.’ 71    . Yassif has     ‘in the week in which the Messiah is revealed’; cf. b. Sanh. 97a. 72 The latter part of the preceding paragraph and the initial part of the present paragraph are loosely paraphrased in §33 of Hekhalot Rabbati, part of a late expansion of Sefer Zerubbabel which emanates from 60 And while they are decreeing that one should commit apostasy against the Temple, the Lord, and the Torah, the Holy One, blessed be He, will decree that the evil empire 73 will enjoy world sovereignty for no longer than nine months, as scripture states: ‘therefore He will give them until the time when she who is pregnant [has given birth]’ (Mic 5:2), and the word ‘therefore’ () signifies here an oath, as where it is said: ‘therefore () I have sworn an oath to the family of Eli’ (1 Sam 3:14). They shall issue harsh decrees, and they shall increase the tax on Israel tenfold. Whoever formerly paid ten now pays one hundred, and everyone who formerly paid eight now pays eighty, and they will cut off the head of all those who do not have it. During all these nine months they will issue one new decree after another, each one harsher than its predecessor. Then some extremely ugly people from the end of the earth will appear, and everyone who sees them will die due to the terror evoked by them. They will not need to wage war, for they kill everyone by fear of them alone. Each one of them has two heads and seven eyes; they will glow like fire and be as swift in their movement as deer. At that time Israel will cry out and say, ‘Woe! Alas!’ Children from Israel will become frightened, and each of them will come and hide themselves beneath their father and mother, saying, ‘Woe, my father! Alas, my mother! What shall we do?!?’ Their parents will respond to them (saying): ‘Now we must rely on the (promised) redemption of Israel!’ The second sign: The Holy One, blessed be He, will introduce heat into the world from the heat of the sun, along with consumption and fever, many terrible diseases, plague, and pestilence. Every day there will die among the gentile nations one million people, and all the wicked ones among Israel will perish. (This will continue) until the nations of the world weep and cry out: ‘Woe to us! Where can we go and to where shall we flee?’ Everyone will dig their own grave while they still retain strength and then they will wish for death. They will conceal themselves in arid places and among towers and crevices in order to cool themselves, and they will go into caves and earthen caverns. And if you should ask how the righteous will be delivered from the heat of the sun, (the answer is that) the Holy One, blessed be He, will render that heat medicinal (for them), as scripture says: ‘O those who revere My name, a sun of righteousness will rise for you, and it will heal the seventeenth-century Sabbatian sect. I have followed the reading    contained therein; cf. Even-Shmuel, Midreshey Ge’ullah, 425. 73 Yassif:  ‘Edom’; i.e., Christian Rome. 61 (you) with its wings’ (Mal 3:20). Balaam the wicked prophesied about these troubles 74 (when he said): ‘Woe to whoever is alive when God brings it about!’ (Num 24:23). The third sign: The Holy One, blessed be He, will cause a dew of blood to fall, but it will appear to be water to the gentile nations. They will drink of it and die. Moreover the wicked of Israel—those who have abandoned all hope of redemption—will drink of it and die. However, the righteous—those who have maintained faith in the Holy One, blessed be He—will suffer no harm at all, as scripture states: ‘the wise will shine like the brightness of the sky’ (Dan 12:3). The whole world will become blood for three entire days, as Hosea (sic)75 has said: ‘I will place portents in the heavens and on earth: blood, fire, and columns of smoke’ (Joel 3:3). The fourth sign: The Holy One, blessed be He, will cause a dew of healing to fall in order to counteract the blood, and those who were wavering will drink of it and be healed of their illness, as scripture states: ‘I will be like dew for Israel: he will bloom like a lily and extend his roots like Lebanon’ (Hos 14:6). The fifth sign: The Holy One, blessed be He, will turn the sun to darkness for thirty days, as scripture says: ‘The sun will be changed into darkness, and the moon to blood’ (Joel 3:4). After thirty days the Holy One, blessed be He, will return it to its former state, as scripture says: ‘they will be gathered together like a group of prisoners in a pit and locked away in prison, and after many days they will be recalled’ (Isa 24:22). The gentile nations will feel fear and shame, for they will realize that it is on account of Israel that all these signs are occurring, and many of them will secretly become Jewish, as scripture has envisioned: ‘those who observe (a religion devoted to) worthless vanities will abandon their faith’ (Jon 2:9). The sixth sign: As we stated above, the Holy One, blessed be He, will grant the wicked Edom sovereignty over the entire world.76 A final king77 will arise in Rome, and he will rule the entire world for nine months and Read    in place of Jellinek’s   . This mistaken attribution presumably belongs with the prooftext for the fourth sign. 76 See the description of the first sign. 74 75 62 bring about the destruction of many regions. His wrath will increase against Israel and he will burden them with a heavy tax. At that time Israel will experience great distress due to the multitude of restrictive edicts and disturbances affecting them which will recur every day. Israel will undergo decline and be subject to annihilation at that time, and there will be no one to help Israel. Isaiah prophesied about this time when he said: ‘he saw that there was no person; he was astonished that there was no one to interpose’ (Isa 59:16). When the nine months are completed, the Messiah of the lineage of Joseph—whose name is Nehemiah b. Hushiel—will appear accompanied by the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin, and some of the tribe of Gad. Israelites who dwell in every region will hear that the Lord’s Messiah has come, and a small number from every region and every city will assemble around him to fulfill what is said in Jeremiah: ‘Come back, O apostate children—utterance of the Lord! For I have been your Lord, and I will take one of you from the city and two of you from a family and bring you to Zion’ (Jer 3:14). The Messiah of the lineage of Joseph will come and fight a battle with the ruler of Edom. He will win a victory against Edom, kill great heaps of them, 78 and also kill the king of Edom. He will devastate the province of Rome. He will recover some of the Temple vessels which had been deposited in the palace of Julianos Caesar79 and come to Jerusalem. Israel will hear (about this) and gather themselves to him. The ruler of Egypt will make a peace treaty with him. 80 He (Nehemiah) will slay all the people of the regions surrounding Jerusalem up to Damascus and Ashkelon, and all the people of the world will hear (about this), and a great fear will fall upon them. The seventh sign: The Holy One, blessed be He, who is the Master of Marvels, will effect a miracle in the world. They say that in Rome there is a marble statue (in) the likeness of a beautiful maiden: she was not fashioned by a human hand; rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, created her so by His power. Certain Or   ‘another king’; Even-Shmuel (Midreshey Ge’ullah, 320) has   ‘a king.’ I have translated this text as above due to the explicit presence of the motif of the ‘Last (Roman) King’ in the preceding apocalypse. 78    . The meaning of this expression derives from an exegesis of the word  in Cant 5:16; cf. b. ‘Erub. 21b and Rashi’s commentary to the biblical verse. 79  . Samuel Krauss suggests emending this reading to  ‘Justinos’; see his Studien zur byzantinisch-jüdischen Geschichte (Leipzig: Buchhandlung Gustav Fock, 1914), 106 n.3. For a list of the Temple vessels which were carried off as spoil and deposited in Rome, see ’Abot R. Nat. A §41 (Schechter, 67a). Note also b. Me‘il. 17b; b. Yoma 57a and Rashi’s commentary ad loc. 80 This same event is also signaled in the Prayer of R. Šim‘on b. Yoḥai; see Even-Shmuel, Midreshey Ge’ullah, 297. 77 63 wicked ones belonging to the gentile nations will come—utterly worthless fellows—and excite ‘her’ and have sexual relations with her, and the Holy One, blessed be He, will preserve their seminal emissions within the statue. He will make a creature with it and form with it an offspring: she will (suddenly) split open and a human form will emerge from her. His name is Armilos the Satan; this is the one whom the gentile nations term ‘Antichristo(s).’81 He is twelve cubits long and twelve82 cubits wide, and the distance between his two eyes is a span’s length, and they are deep-set83 (and) bloodshot. The hair on his head is like the color of gold, the soles of his feet are green, and he has two heads. He will come to the wicked Edomites and say to them: ‘I am the Messiah! I am your god!’ They will immediately believe him and elevate him over themselves as ruler, and all the descendants of Esau will join forces with him and come to him. He will march forth and subdue all the regions. He will say to the descendants of Esau: ‘Bring before me my revelation84 which I gave to you!’ They will bring him their ‘frivolity,’85 and he will respond to them: ‘This is indeed what I gave to you!’ He will address the nations of the world (saying) ‘Believe in me, for I am your Messiah!’ They will immediately put their trust in him. At that time he will send for Nehemiah b. Hushiel and for all Israel, saying to them: ‘Bring to me your Torah and bear witness to me that I am God!’ Suddenly they will grow fearful and be perplexed. But at that time Nehemiah b. Hushiel will arise with thirty thousand warriors from among the forces of the tribe of Ephraim, and they will bring a Torah scroll and read aloud before him: ‘I am the Lord your God! You shall have no other gods before Me!’ (Exod 20:2-3). He (Armilos) will say to them: ‘There is nothing like this at all in your Torah! Come and bear witness to me that I am God just as all the gentile nations have done!’ Immediately Nehemiah will rise up to oppose him. He (Armilos) will command his attendants (saying) ‘Seize him and bind him!’ But Nehemiah b. Hushiel will arise, along with the thirty thousand who are with him, and do battle with him, and they will kill two hundred thousand of his (troops). The anger of Armilos the wicked will increase in intensity, and he will assemble all the forces of the nations of the world in ‘the Valley of Decision’ (Joel 4:14). They will do battle with Israel, and they (Israel) will slay great heaps of them, whereas they will fatally strike only a small number of Israelites, but 81 . Even-Shmuel: ‘two.’ 83 So Jellinek (); Even-Shmuel reads  ‘crooked.’ 84 Literally ‘my Torah which I gave to you’ (  ). 85 . For gauging the semantic range of this term, cf. m. Soṭah 3.4. 82 64 the Lord’s Messiah will be killed. The ministering angels will come, take him, and conceal him among the ancestors of the world. The courage of Israel will immediately fail and their strength will dissipate. Armilos the wicked will not know that the Messiah is dead, for if he knew (that were the case), he would not allow Israel to have a single survivor or fugitive. At that time all the nations of the world will expel Israel from their territories and will not permit them to dwell alongside them in their countries. They will say: ‘You see this despicable and lowly people who rebelled against us; can they possibly raise up a king?’ Israel will experience trouble the like of which has never happened to her before during the days of the world up to that time. At that time Michael will arise to purge the wicked from Israel, as scripture states: ‘At that time Michael, the great prince who watches over the sons of Your people, will arise, and there will be a time of trouble such as not has taken place from the time (Israel) became a nation until that time, and at that time all of your people who are found inscribed in the book will escape’ (Dan 12:1). All of Israel will immediately flee into the deserts, whereas everyone who is entertaining doubts about their religion will turn to the nations of the world and state: ‘This is the redemption for which we have been waiting, for the Messiah is dead!’ All those who are no longer anticipating the redemption will be embarrassed by it (i.e., the Messiah’s demise) and they will turn to the gentile nations. At that time the Holy One, blessed be He, will test Israel and refine them like silver and gold, as it is said in Zechariah: ‘I will bring the third part through the fire, and I will purge them (of dross) as one purges silver’ (Zech 13:9), and as it is written in Ezekiel: ‘I will purge from among you those who rebelled and disobeyed Me’ (Ezek 20:38), and as it is written in Daniel: ‘They will be purged and made white: many will be refined and they will convict the wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand’ (Dan 12:10). The entire remnant of Israel—the sanctified and purified ones—will remain in the desert of Judah for forty-five days.86 They will forage and feed on salt-plant and pluck leaves of shrubbery (cf. Job 30:4), and by them will be fulfilled what is said in Hosea: ‘Therefore, behold, I will entice her and lead her out to the desert, and I will console her’ (Hos 2:16).87 What is the scriptural basis of the forty-five days? Scripture states: ‘from the time of the removal of the daily offering and of the installation of the desolating 86 See especially Pesiq. Rab Kah. 5.8 (ed. Mandelbaum, 92-93) where the forty-five days is the period of time that the messiah is in ‘occultation’ ( ). 87 See the targum to this verse and the commentary of Radaq ad loc. 65 abomination will be 1,290 days’ (Dan 12:11), and it is (also) written: ‘happy is the one who waits and attains 1,335 days’ (Dan 12:12). Consequently one learns that the difference between these two figures is forty-five days. At that time all the wicked of Israel will perish, for they are unworthy of experiencing redemption. Armilos will come and do battle with Egypt and capture it, as scripture states: ‘and the land of Egypt will no longer escape’ (Dan 11:42). Then he will turn his face toward Jerusalem in order to destroy it a second time, as scripture says: ‘he will pitch the tents of his pavilion between the seas and the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he approaches his end, and no one will help him’ (Dan 11:45). The eighth sign: Michael will arise and blow three blasts on the shofar, as scripture attests: ‘and it shall come to pass on that day that a great shofar will be blown, and those who are lost in Assyria will come [along with those cast out in Egypt, and they will worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem]’ (Isa 27:13), and as it is written: ‘and the Lord God will blow the shofar and travel with the storm winds of the south’ (Zech 9:14). At the first blast, the Messiah of the lineage of David and Elijah the prophet will be revealed to those proven righteous ones of Israel, the ones who had fled into the desert of Judah, at the end of the fortyfive days. They will restore their hearts, invigorate their weakened hands, and strengthen their tottering knees. All Israel—those who remain throughout the whole world—will hear the sound of the shofar and realize that God has remembered them and that complete redemption has arrived. They will gather together and come (to Jerusalem), as scripture says: ‘those who are lost in Assyria will come [along with those cast out in Egypt, and they will worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem]’ (Isa 27:13). Fear and trembling will fall upon the nations of the world on account of that sound, and terrible diseases will afflict them. Israel will gird themselves for departure, and the Messiah of the lineage of David will come, together with Elijah the prophet and those righteous ones who returned from the desert of Judah and with all those who have assembled from Israel. He will enter Jerusalem, climb the steps of the Temple ruins, 88 and take his seat there. Armilos will hear that a king has arisen for Israel, and he will say: ‘How long will this despicable and contemptible nation behave this way?’ He will immediately muster all the forces of the nations of the world and come to do battle with the Lord’s Messiah. Then the Holy One, blessed be He, will deem it 88    . 66 unnecessary for him (i.e., the Messiah) to engage in battle. Instead, He will say to him: ‘Remain by My right hand!’ (Ps 110:1), and He will inform Israel: ‘Stand still and behold the Lord’s deliverance which He effects for you today!’ (Exod 14:13). Then the Holy One, blessed be He, will wage war with them, as scripture says: ‘and the Lord will go forth and wage war against those nations as at the time He fought on the day of battle’ (Zech 14:3). The Holy One, blessed be He, will rain down fire and brimstone from heaven, as scripture states: ‘I will contend with him using plague and blood; and I will rain down flooding rains, hailstones, fire, and brimstone upon him, his troops, and the many peoples allied with him’ (Ezek 38:22). Armilos the wicked will immediately die, both he and all his army, and so too (will perish) the wicked Edom who destroyed the Temple of our God and exiled us from our land. At that time Israel will exact much vengeance against them, as scripture foretells: ‘the house of Jacob will become fire, and the house of Joseph will be a flame, and the house of Esau will serve as dry chaff: [they will burn them up and consume them, and no survivor will remain for the house of Esau, for the Lord has spoken]’ (Obad 1:18). The ninth sign: Michael will blow a loud blast (on the shofar), and the graves of the dead will split open in Jerusalem, and the Holy One, blessed be He, will resurrect them. The Messiah of the lineage of David and Elijah the prophet will then come and resurrect the Messiah of the lineage of Joseph, the one who expired by the gates of Jerusalem. They will send out the Messiah of the lineage of David 89 for the sake of the remnant of Israel that remains scattered among all the lands. Immediately all the rulers of the nations of the world will lift them up on their shoulders and bring them to the Lord (cf. Isa 49:22). The tenth sign: Michael will blow a loud blast (on the shofar), and the Holy One, blessed be He, will lead forth all the tribes located beyond the river of Gozan and from Halah and from Habor and from the cities of Media (cf. 2 Kgs 17:6).90 They will come together with the ‘people of Moses’ ( ),91 (a large group) So Jellinek. Even-Shmuel amends to: ‘the Messiah of the lineage of David will dispatch him (the Messiah of the lineage of Joseph).’ This correction is based on the description provided about the mission of the revivified Messiah of the lineage of Joseph in the ‘Ten Signs apocalypse’ rendered above. 90 The eventual return of the ‘ten lost tribes’ from their Assyrian deportation was widely anticipated in biblical and postbiblical eschatological lore. See 1 Chr 5:26; Isa 11:11; Jer 31:8; Ezek 37:19-24; 4 Ezra 13:34-45. The distinction assumed here between this distinct group of tribes and the ‘people of Moses’ who will supposedly join them at the time of their return betrays a dependence upon the medieval Eldad haDani legends. 89 67 impossible to number or to measure. ‘The land before them will be like the garden of Eden, and behind them a flame will burn’ (cf. Joel 2:3; note Ezek 36:35), and nothing will remain alive among the nations of the world.92 At the time that the tribes depart, clouds of glory will encompass them, 93 and the Holy One, blessed be He, will march before them, as scripture states: ‘the breaker will go up before them’ (Mic 2:13).94 The Holy One, blessed be He, will open for them springs connected with the Tree of Life in order to supply them with water on the way, as it says in Isaiah: ‘I will open rivers on the high places and fountains in the midst of the plains; I will turn the wilderness into a pool of water and the dry land into springs of water’ (Isa 41:18), and it is written: ‘they will not be hungry or thirsty; heat and sun will not afflict them, [for the One showing them mercy will lead them and He will guide them by springs of water]’ (Isa 49:10). May the Holy One, blessed be He, grant us the merit to witness the redemption soon! May He grant us the merit to see the (rebuilt) Temple!95 May He fulfill for us the verse in which it is written: ‘Behold I will bring back the captives of the tents of Jacob and show mercy to his places of dwelling; the city (i.e., Jerusalem) will be rebuilt on its mound and the palace will reoccupy its proper place’ (Jer 30:18), and may He confirm for us all of His redemptive deeds and assurances which have been spoken through His prophets! For it is written: ‘at that time I will bring you, and at that time I will assemble you so that I might make you a name and (an object of) praise’ (Zeph 3:20). The Signs of the Messiah are concluded. 91 This is the designation employed by the legendary medieval itinerant Eldad ha-Dani for the pious levitical community inhabiting the region beyond the ‘river of sand’ or Sambatyon river. See Sefer Eldad ha-Dani (BHM 2:xxviii-ix, 102-13; 3:6-11; 5:17-21) 2:103ff.; Elkan Nathan Adler, ed., Jewish Travellers in the Middle Ages: 19 Firsthand Accounts (London: Routledge, 1930; repr., New York: Dover, 1987), 1215; Micha Joseph bin Gorion, Mimekor Israel: Selected Classical Jewish Folktales (ed. Emanuel bin Gorion; trans. I. M. Lask; Bloomington/Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1990), 126-28. The twelfth-century Muslim heresiologist Shahrastān relates that the eighth-century Jewish messianic pretender Abū ‘ sā al-Iṣfahān ‘traveled to the Banū Mūsā b. ‘Imrān, the ones who are beyond the sand (river), in order to have them hear the word of God’ (William Cureton, ed., Kitāb al-milal wa-al-niḥal: Book of Religious and Philosophical Sects, by Muhammad al-Shahrastáni [London, 1846; repr., Leipzig: O. Harrassowitz, 1923], 168.8-9). See further Israel Friedlaender, “The Jews of Arabia and the Rechabites,” JQR n.s. 1 (1910-11): 252-57, as well as the excursus on the ‘people of Moses’ in the present volume. 92 Note the final clause of Joel 2:3 (       ). 93 Cf. Isa 60:8. For a stimulating survey of the prominence of the ‘divine cloud’ motif in Jewish eschatology, see Naphtali Wieder, The Judean Scrolls and Karaism (London: East and West Library, 1962), 35-48. 94 Compare Midr. Tanḥ. Buber, Wayeṣe §24 (end); Pesiq. Rab. §35 (Ish-Shalom, 161a); and the commentary of Radaq ad loc. 95 Hebrew  . This is a common rabbinic designation for the Temple based on Deut 12:5 and its parallels. See m. Ma‘aś. Š. 5.12; t. Pe’ah 4.7; t. Sanh. 4.5; t. Menaḥ. 7.8; b. Naz. 25a-b; etc. 68 4. TEN FURTHER THINGS PERTAINING TO THE DAYS OF THE MESSIAH 96 Corresponding to these ten signs, the Holy One, blessed be He, will refurbish Jerusalem with ten kinds of precious stones. These will be ruby, topaz, emerald, turquoise, sapphire, diamond, beryl, onyx, jasper, and gold—ten types of stones.97 And for the reconstruction of the Temple He (the Holy One, blessed be He) will supplement98 them with two more; namely, porphyry and carbuncle, as scripture states: ‘I will inlay your walls with porphyry, and your gates with carbuncle’ (Isa 54:12). 99 Similarly the Holy One, blessed be He, is planning to restore to Israel ten things which had disappeared from among them, 100 as scripture says: ‘I will be pleased with it and glorify it’ (Hag 1:8). Five of these things were missing from the Second Temple; namely, the Ark and the cherubim, the ointment for anointing, the proper arrangement of the woods on the altar, the Urim and Thummim, and the Holy Spirit, 101 along with five other things. The Holy One, blessed be He, is going to intensify the illumination of the sun three hundred and forty-three times more than its current brightness, as scripture states: ‘the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold (stronger); it will be like the light of seven days on the day when the Lord bandages the fractured state of His people and heals the severity of its wound’ (Isa 30:26). And from whence do we learn that the factor will be three hundred and forty-three? Because it is interpreted thusly by Jonathan b. ‘Uzziel: ‘the brightness [of the moon] will be like the brightness of the sun, [and the brightness of the sun] will become three hundred and forty-three times brighter, like the brightness of seven days.’102 For when you multiply seven by seven the product is forty-nine; (then) 96 Oxford Ms. Heb. d. 11 (2797) as transcribed and published by Yassif, 442-43. See also Jellinek, BHM 6:118-20; Even-Shmuel, Midreshey Ge’ullah, 345-46, where this piece is entitled   . 97 Jellinek:  . 98 Jellinek:  . 99 Compare Rev 21:18-20. 100 Jellinek:         . 101 See b. Yoma 21b and Rashi ad Hag 1:8. Since the ketiv verb  in Hag 1:8 is missing a final , the Sages interpreted this spelling to signify that the Second Temple would be lacking ‘five’ ( = 5) attributes which the First Temple possessed. 102 Jellinek:                   . As the witness indicates, this is a rendition of Tg. Neb. to Isa 30:26. 69 multiplying them (again) by seven—as scripture says: ‘like the light of seven days’ (ibid.)—consequently the total is three hundred and forty-three. So too the Holy One, blessed be He, will cause the righteous to shine with an intensity equal to this same number, for scripture says: ‘and His friends (will be) like the emergence of the sun at its peak intensity’ (Judg 5:31). We have it translated (into Aramaic as): ‘His servants, the righteous ones, are destined to shine like the brightness of His glory, (shining) three hundred and forty-three times brighter like the brightness of the sun at its peak intensity.’103 Now those are seven things which the Holy One, blessed be He, is planning to restore to them. The crowns which they lost at Sinai, 104 the blessing of the grain, and the plumpness of the fruit105—the total sum (of things He will restore) is ten.106 And mirroring these (ten things), the Holy One, blessed be He, is planning to restore and produce ten great redemptive acts () along with the rest of their associated marvels. First will be the advent of the redeemer, as scripture says: ‘behold, your king will come to you, etc.’ (Zech 9:9). Second will be the ingathering of the exiles, as scripture states: ‘behold, I will bring them from a northern land, and I will gather them in from the ends of the earth, among them those who are blind and crippled’ (Jer 31:7). Why ‘those who are blind and crippled’? This teaches that each and every righteous person will return just as they were when (they were) removed from the world. Whoever was blind will return blind at the time of their resurrection, whoever was crippled will return crippled at the time of their resurrection, and so too with regard to all the rest of the nation, so that each person might recognize his friend (and) so that others might not say that they were (actually) these (people).107 After this, the Holy One, blessed be He, will heal them, as scripture promises: ‘then the crippled one will leap like a deer, etc.’ (Isa 35:6). Third will be the resurrection of the dead, as scripture states: ‘and many of those asleep in the soil of the ground will awaken, 103               . Jellinek reads as follows:               . 104 See b. Šabb. 88a. 105 See m. Soṭah 9.12. 106 Jellinek:                                ‘and the crowns which they lost at Sinai which Moses had won for all of them, and (then) he removed them, as scripture states: “and Moses would take the Tent” (Exod 33:7), the Holy One, blessed be He, is planning to restore them, as it is written in scripture: “and eternal joy upon their heads” (Isa 35:10; 51:11); “You will again outfit yourself with your timbrels and go forth dancing with those enjoying themselves” (Jer 31:3). Also the blessing on grain which will be equal to that of the fruits.’ 107 See the concurring explanations of Saadya and R. Hai Gaon. 70 etc.’ (Dan 12:2). Fourth will be the rebuilding of the Temple in accordance with the vision of the structure which Ezekiel saw in his prophecy. Fifth: Israel will implement the sovereignty of the jurisdiction of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Torah throughout the entire world, as scripture says: ‘then He will revert to the nations a pure speech so that all of them can call together on the name of the Lord, etc.’ (Zeph 3:9).108 Sixth: the Holy One, blessed be He, will destroy all the enemies of His people and exact vengeance on them, as scripture says: ‘I will take my vengeance out <on Edom> 109 by the hand of My people Israel’ (Ezek 25:14). Seventh: the Holy One, blessed be He, will remove every pestilence and illness from Israel,110 as scripture says: ‘and no one who dwells there will say “I am ill”; the people inhabiting it will have (their) transgression forgiven’ (Isa 33:24). Eighth: the Holy One, blessed be He, will prolong the days of Israel to be like those of a tree, as scripture states: ‘like the days of a tree will the days of my people be’ (Isa 65:22), and it is written: ‘for one who dies at the age of one hundred will be considered a youth, and [the sinner] (who dies) when one hundred will be thought cursed’ (Isa 65:20), and it is written: ‘He will destroy death forever, and the Lord will wipe away the tear(s) from every face, and He will remove the disgrace of His people, etc.’ (Isa 25:8). Ninth: the Holy One, blessed be He, will reveal Himself visibly to Israel, as scripture says: ‘the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will behold (it) together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken’ (Isa 40:5). He will make all Israel to be prophets, as scripture states: ‘it shall come to pass after this that I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, etc.’ (Joel 3:1). Tenth: the Holy One, blessed be He, will remove the evil impulse ( ) from Israel, as scripture affirms: ‘and I shall give you a new heart, and I shall place a new spirit inside of you, and I shall extract the heart of stone from your flesh, and I shall give you a heart of flesh’ (Ezek 36:26). Happy is he who patiently awaits the day of redemption! He hopes that he will prove worthy of the reward (dispensed on that) delayed day! But if perchance their heart is overcome when ‘wars break out’ (Exod 1:10), or when ‘he cries out, but He does not answer’ (Prov 21:13), let me say (that) this is the consummation! 108 The wording of the prooftext in the Oxford manuscript varies slightly from that of the Masoretic Text; the variants are italicized. See Radaq ad loc. for further comments on the eschatological significance of this verse. 109 The Oxford manuscript prooftext lacks the word  ‘on Edom’; i.e., Christian Rome. 110 Jellinek:       . 71