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    Ascension of Moses and the Story of Samyaza and Azazel
    Ascension of Moses and the Story of Samyaza and Azazel
    Ascension of Moses and the Story of Samyaza and Azazel
    Ebook75 pages53 minutes

    Ascension of Moses and the Story of Samyaza and Azazel

    By Scriptural Research Institute

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    Several fragments of the Ascension of Moses have survived to the present, however, most of the work is likely lost forever. The Ascension of Moses is almost certainly the precursor to the Revelation of Metatron, in which Rabbi Ishmael was taken up to the sky by Metatron, the supreme archangel. In the Ascension of Moses, it was Moses who was taken up to the sky, and Metatron played a smaller role, although, clearly the same role in the Long Aramaic Revelation of Moses, which is the closest to Revelation of Metatron. In both the Long Aramaic Revelation of Moses and the Revelation of Metatron, Metatron identifies himself as Enoch, Moses' ancestor, which connects this clearly heretical Jewish work with the older Enochian literature. In the other surviving fragments, the connection is less clear, as is the cosmography of the seven skies, and it is, therefore, possible that there were several stages of textual development before the version that was redacted into the Revelation of Metatron. In the Revelation of Metatron, the role of Moses has been replaced by Rabbi Ishmael, a rabbi who lived in Palestine in the late-1st-century and early-2nd-century AD, however, his name was attached to most of the Merkabah literature in that circulated in Babylonia during between 400 and 1000 AD, and is universally considered to have been used to replace an earlier name. Chapter 15B of the Revelation of Metatron is itself an excerpt from the Ascension of Moses, which, if nothing else, proves that the Ascension has been viewed as an earlier copy of the Revelation since at least the 1000 AD, the latest the Revelation was likely to have been edited significantly.

    It is not clear when Metatron first appeared within Judaism, however, he was present before he became associated with Enoch, as the story of Samyaza and Azazel demonstrate, which is set in the era of Enoch's ancestor Enosh. In the story of Samyaza and Azazel, Metatron already existed as the messenger of the Lord, meaning, he existed as an angel within some form of archaic Judaism before he became Enoch incarnate in the Ascension of Moses. The claim that Enoch, a man, could become an angel, or archangel, or Prince of all the Princes, is itself heretical within Rabbinical Judaism, where angels are viewed as a separate form of life, based on fire, or ice, or electricity, or some combination of 'elements' but not flesh made of 'dust.' Therefore this was likely part of the heresy of Rabbi Elisha and does appear to be missing from the oldest fragment, the Short Aramaic Revelation of Moses.

    The story of Samyaza and Azazel, which like the Yiddish Ascension of Moses is a Yiddish story found among the Chronicles of Jarahmeel, also appears to be a very ancient story bordering about as close as a Jew could get to polytheism without actually crossing that imaginary line. It is included as an appendix as is seems relevant to the question of Metatron's origin within Judaism, however, it is its treatment of Astarah that reveals its true age. The name is a variation of Asherah, who is mentioned many times in the Hebrew Bible, generally in association with Ba'al. Her worship was banned by King Josiah in the Hebrew Book of Kings when he banned the worship of Ba'al and the armies of the sky (hosts of heaven). Archaeological evidence has proven that Jews (or possibly Essenes) continued to worship Asherah until the 6th century BC, during the early Persians era, which is missing from the Talmud's records.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherScriptural Research Institute
    Release dateJun 8, 2020
    ISBN9781989852262
    Ascension of Moses and the Story of Samyaza and Azazel

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      Book preview

      Ascension of Moses and the Story of Samyaza and Azazel - Scriptural Research Institute

      Copyright

      WHILE EVERY PRECAUTION has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

      ASCENSION OF MOSES AND THE STORY OF SAMYAZA AND AZAZEL

      First edition. June 8, 2020.

      Copyright © 2020 Scriptural Research Institute.

      ISBN: 978-1-989852-26-2

      This English translation was created by the Scriptural Research Institute in 2020. It indebted heavily from the work of the Romanian scholar Moses Gaster in the 1800s, who collected most of these stories and first studied them academically.

      The image used for the cover is ‘Angel of Death’ by Evelyn de Morgan, painted in 1881.

      Forward

      SEVERAL FRAGMENTS OF the Ascension of Moses have survived to the present, however, most of the work is likely lost forever. The Ascension of Moses is almost certainly the precursor to the Revelation of Metatron, in which Rabbi Ishmael was taken up to the sky by Metatron, the supreme archangel. In the Ascension of Moses, it was Moses who was taken up to the sky, and Metatron played a smaller role, although, clearly the same role in the Long Aramaic Revelation of Moses, which is the closest to Revelation of Metatron. In both the Long Aramaic Revelation of Moses and the Revelation of Metatron, Metatron identifies himself as Enoch, Moses’ ancestor, which connects this clearly heretical Jewish work with the older Enochian literature. In the other surviving fragments, the connection is less clear, as is the cosmography of the seven skies, and it is, therefore, possible that there were several stages of textual development before the version that was redacted into the Revelation of Metatron. In the Revelation of Metatron, the role of Moses has been replaced by Rabbi Ishmael, a rabbi who lived in Palestine in the late-1st-century and early-2nd-century AD, however, his name was attached to most of the Merkabah literature in that circulated in Babylonia during between 400 and 1000 AD, and is universally considered to have been used to replace an earlier name. Chapter 15B of the Revelation of Metatron is itself an excerpt from the Ascension of Moses, which, if nothing else, proves that the Ascension has been viewed as an earlier copy of the Revelation since at least the 1000 AD, the latest the Revelation was likely to have been edited significantly.

      Multiple lines of evidence point to the Ascension of Moses being the precursor to the Revelation of Metatron and likely composed in the early-2nd-century AD by Rabbi Elisha ben Abuyah, the heretic known as Aher, meaning ‘the other’ in the Talmud. While this is unlikely to be proven conclusively, all the points of evidence point to Rabbi Elisha having a revelation of Metatron that was considered deeply heretical, but still quintessentially Jewish. Rabbi Elisha is reported to have embraced polytheism in his heresy, and yet, was still a Rabbi, not a Christian, Samaritan, Nasorean, or some other form of meaning he still had to have accepted Moses, the Torah, and Mount Zion, and could not have embraced Jesus’ teachings. The Ascension of Moses fits this heresy perfectly, especially in the Long Aramaic Revelation of Moses, which includes vivid descriptions of the Paradise and Gehenna that are virtually identical to the descriptions of Paradise and Hades in early Christian apocalyptic literature. Many parallels can be found in the Apocalypse of Peter, the Apocalypse of Paul, the Apocalypse of the Virgin, and the Ascension of Isaiah none of which became part of the Imperial Bible in the 4th-century. The Apocalypse of Peter is considered by biblical scholars to be a pseudepigraphal 2nd-century work. The Apocalypse of Paul is considered a 3rd-century pseudepigraphal work, while the Apocalypse of the Virgin is an identical story with Paul replaced by ‘the Virgin.’ The Apocalypse of the Virgin, which has only survived Ge’ez, is considered to be a redaction of the Apocalypse of Paul, which has survived in Greek, Latin, Syriac, Coptic, and Georgian, although, only in fragments in all languages. The fact that someone decided to redact Paul from the Apocalypse points to a pre-Nicean redaction, as after that time all Christians were required to accept him as an Apostle and Pope.

      The dating for the Ascension of Isaiah is more problematic, and scholars have proposed anywhere from the 1st to 4th centuries, with some even claiming that the Christian work was a redaction of a Jewish work that could date to before the time of Jesus. In its current for it is very Christian overall, however, parallels the Ascension of Moses to some degree. In the Ascension of Isaiah, Isiah has a vision of the seven skies, with the ancient patriarchs in it, just like Moses encountered in the Ascension of Moses, however, those patriarchs are not living in Paradise, but rather, have become angels. The Ascension of Isaiah is also notable for not mentioning Metatron at all, which implies that even though there are strong parallels between the two Ascensions, the Ascension of Isaiah was not based on the Revelation of Metatron, but the Ascension of Moses, which was given a more Christian-spin, using the name of Christianity’s favorite Old Testament prophet.

      The question of which came first of all these Ascensions and Apocalypses has been debated for over a

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