This article systematically analyses all ancient aggadic sources referring to Isaiah 6:3 with a mainly phenomenological approach. In explaining the meaning of this verse, the rabbis are interested in four topics. First, several texts deal with the relationship between the angels and Israel and often make a distinction between their songs. We ask the following questions: Is there any agreement as to how these songs are defined and eventually connected together? To what extent is the motif of the song related to the more general topic of the relationship between the angels and Israel? According to our investigation, the answers to these questions are less simple than usually thought. Second, the second part of the verse may refer to the body of God or to the Shekhina. Third, the rabbis try to describe more precisely how the kedusha is recited by the angels. Fourth, Isaiah 6:3 is also related to practical concerns. The last part of the article explores the implications of the midrashic data already studied for a better understanding of the Palestinian and Babylonian versions of the kedusha.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
M. Idel, La cabale, nouvelles perspectives (Paris : Le Cerf, 2007), 13.
P. Schäfer, Rivalität zwischen Engeln und Menschen. Untersuchungen zur rabbinischen Engelvorstellung (Berlin : de Gruyter, 1975), 164, 167, 168, 170, 171, 173, 174, 177 (textes, voir aussi les commentaires correspondants), 230-32, 237, 238 (pour les paragraphes de synthèse). On notera cependant que le motif des deux chants n’apparaît à aucun moment dans le titre des parties et des sous-parties et il est également absent de l’index (celui-ci mentionne séparemment la qedusha et le shemaʿ).
Sur les anges, voir E. Urbach, Les Sages d’Israël. Conceptions et croyances des maîtres du Talmud (Paris : Le Cerf, 1996), 145-91.
Voir Schäfer, Rivalität zwischen Engeln und Menschen, 228-34. P. Schäfer note comme nous le caractère incertain des textes qui évoquent l’égalité des anges et des hommes (224-28). Il ne consacre cependant aucun paragraphe spécifique au troisième cas de figure : la supériorité des anges.
Voir A. M. Goldberg, Untersuchungen über die Vorstellung von der Schekhinah in der frühen rabbinischen Literatur (Berlin : de Gruyter, 1969), 125-60 et 468-70.
Voir D. Halperin, The Faces of the Chariot (Leyde : Brill, 1988), 194-249 et J. Costa, L’au-delà et la résurrection dans la littérature rabbinique ancienne (Louvain : Peeters, 2004), 583-600.
S. Stern, Jewish Identity in Early Rabbinic Writings (Leyde : Brill, 1994), 199-200.
Tosefta, Berakhot 1, 9 ; Talmud Yerushalmi, Berakhot, 5, 3 ; Talmud Babli, Berakhot, 21b ; Soṭa 49a. Sur tous ces textes, voir Bastit-Kalinowska, Costa, « L’interprétation d’Isaïe 6, 3 », 576-578.
All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 224 | 26 | 11 |
Full Text Views | 175 | 2 | 0 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 29 | 2 | 1 |
This article systematically analyses all ancient aggadic sources referring to Isaiah 6:3 with a mainly phenomenological approach. In explaining the meaning of this verse, the rabbis are interested in four topics. First, several texts deal with the relationship between the angels and Israel and often make a distinction between their songs. We ask the following questions: Is there any agreement as to how these songs are defined and eventually connected together? To what extent is the motif of the song related to the more general topic of the relationship between the angels and Israel? According to our investigation, the answers to these questions are less simple than usually thought. Second, the second part of the verse may refer to the body of God or to the Shekhina. Third, the rabbis try to describe more precisely how the kedusha is recited by the angels. Fourth, Isaiah 6:3 is also related to practical concerns. The last part of the article explores the implications of the midrashic data already studied for a better understanding of the Palestinian and Babylonian versions of the kedusha.
All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 224 | 26 | 11 |
Full Text Views | 175 | 2 | 0 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 29 | 2 | 1 |