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Vested with Adam's Glory

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Vested with Adam's Glory A. Orlov VESTED WITH ADAMS GLORY: MOSES AS THE LUMINOUS COUNTERPART OF ADAM IN THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS AND IN THE MACARIAN HOMILIES Two Luminaries In the group of the Dead Sea Scrolls fragments known under the title the Words of the Luminaries (4Q504),1 the following passage about the glory of Adam in the Garden of Eden can be found: ... [ ... Adam,] our [fat]her, you fashioned in the image of [your] glory ([äë] ãåáë úåîãá äúøöé) [...] [... the breath of life] you [b]lew into his nostril, and intelligence and knowledge [...] [... in the gard]en of Eden, which you had planted. You made [him] govern [...] [...] and so that he would walk in a glorious land... [...] [...] he kept. And you im- posed on him not to tu[rn away...] [...] he is flesh, and to dust [...] ...2 Later in 4Q504, this tradition about Adams former glory follows with a reference to the luminosity bestowed on another human body the glorious face of Moses at his encounter with the Lord at Sinai: 1 On the Words of Luminaries, see: M. BAILLET, Un receuil liturgique de Qumrân, grotte 4; «Les Paroles des Luminaries» // RB 67 (1961) 195–250; IDEM, Remarques sur l’édition des Paroles des Luminaires // RevQ 5 (1964) 23–42; IDEM, Qumran Grotte 4 III (4Q482–520) (DJD, 7; Oxford, 1982); E. GLICKLER CHAZON, «Words of the Lu- minaries» (4QDibHam): A Liturgical Document from Qumran and Its Implications (Ph.D. dissertation, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1991); IDEM, 4QDibHam: Liturgy or Literature? // RevQ 15 (1991—1992) 447–455; IDEM, «Dibre Hammêorot»; Prayer for the Sixth Day (4Q504 1–2 v–vi) // Prayer from Alexander to Constantine: A Critical Anthology / Eds. M. KILEY et al. (London, 1997) 23–27; C. A. EVANS, Aspect of Exile and Restoration in the Proclamation of Jesus and the Gospels // Exile: Old Testa- ment, Jewish and Christian Concepts / Ed. J. M. SCOTT (Leiden, 1997) (JSJSup., 56) 308–309; D. FALK, Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls (Lei- den, 1988) (STDJ, 27) 59–94; The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition / Eds. F. GARCÍA MARTÍNEZ, E. J. C. TIGCHELAAR. 2 vols (Leiden—New York—Köln, 1997) Vol. 2. 1008– 1019; K. G. KUHN, Nachträge zur Konkordanz zu den Qumrantexten // RevQ 4 (1963) 163–234; B. NITZAN, Qumran Prayer and Religious Poetry (Leiden, 1994) (STDJ, 12); D. T. OLSON, Words of the Lights (4Q504—4Q506) // The Dead Sea Scrolls. Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts with English Translation. Vol. 4A: Pseudepigra- phic and Non-Masoretic Psalms and Prayers / Eds. J. H. CHARLESWORTH, H. W. L. RIETZ (Tübingen/Louisville, KY, 1997) 107–153; É. PUECH, La Croyance des Esséniens en la Vie Future. 2 vols. (Paris, 1993) 2.563–568. 2 The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition… Vol. 2. 1008–1009. A. Orlov 499 ... [...Re]member, please, that all of us are your people. You have lifted us wonderfully [upon the wings of] eagles and you have brought us to you. And like the eagle which watches its nest, circles [over its chicks,] stretches its wings, takes one and carries it upon [its pinions] [...] we remain aloof and one does not count us among the nations. And [...] [...] You are in our midst, in the column of fire and in the cloud [...] [...] your [hol]y [...] walks in front of us, and your glory is in [our] midst ([åð]ëåúá äëãåáëå) [...] [...] the face of Moses (äùåî éðô), [your] serv[ant]...3 Two details are intriguing in these descriptions. First, the author of 4Q504 appears to be familiar with the lore about the glorious garments of Adam, the tradition according to which first humans had luminous attires in Eden befo- re their transgression. Second, the author seems to draw parallels between the glory of Adam and the glory of Moses face.4 The luminous face of the prophet might repre- sent in this text an alternative to the lost luminosity of Adam and serve as a new symbol of Gods glory once again manifested in the human body. It appears, therefore, that in 4Q504, traditions about Adams glory and Moses glory are creatively juxtaposed with each other. Unfortunately, the fragmen- tary character of the Qumran document does not allow to grasp the full scope of intentions of the author(s) of 4Q504 in making such juxtapostion. To un- derstand this juxtapostion better, research must proceed to other sources where 3 The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition… Vol. 2. 1008–1009. 4 On Moses traditions, see: R. BLOCH, Die Gestalt des Moses in der rabbinischen Tradition // Moses in Schrift und Überlieferung (Düsseldorf, 1963) 95–171; G. W. CO- AT S , Moses: Heroic Man, Man of God (Sheffield, 1988) (JSOTSup., 57); Death, Ec- stasy, and Other Worldly Journeys / Eds. J. J. COLLINS, M. FISHBANE (Albany, 1995); C. N. T. FLETCHER-LOUIS, Luke-Acts: Angels, Christology and Soteriology (Tübin- gen, 1997); J. FOSSUM, The Name of God and the Angel of the Lord: Samaritan and Jewish Concepts of Intermediation and the Origin of Gnosticism (Tübingen, 1985) 90–94; IDEM, The Image of the Invisible God (Göttingen, 1995) (Novum Testamen- tum et Orbis Antiquus 30); S. J. HAFEMANN, Moses in the Apocrypha and Pseudepi- grapha: A Survey // Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 7 (1990) 79–104; P. W. VAN DER HORST, Moses’ Throne Vision in Ezekiel the Dramatist // Journal of Jewish Studies 34 (1983) 21–29; H. JACOBSEN, The Exagoge of Ezekiel (Cambridge, 1983); W. A. MEEKS, Moses as God and King // Religions in Antiquity: Essays in Memory of Erwin Ramsdell Goodenough / Ed. J. NEUSNER (Leiden, 1968); IDEM, The Prophet-King: Moses Traditions and the Johannine Christology (Leiden, 1967); A. ORLOV, Ex 33 on God’s Face: A Lesson from the Enochic Tradition // Seminar Papers 39, Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting 2000 (Atlanta, 2000) 130– 147; A. SCHALIT, Untersuchungen zur Assumptio Mosis (Leiden, 1989); J. P. SCHULTZ, Angelic Opposition to the Ascension of Moses and the Revelation of the Law // Jewish Quarterly Review 61 (1970—1971) 282–307; J. TROMP, The Assumption of Moses: A Critical Edition with Commentary (Leiden, 1993). 500 Õðèñòèàíñêèé Âîñòîê IV (X) (2002) the association between the glory of Adam and Moses is made more explicit. One of such sources includes the Macarian Homilies, where the author vivi- dly accentuates this association. However, before our research proceeds to a detailed analysis of the Adam/Moses connection in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the Macarian homilies, a short introduction to the Jewish, Samaritan, and Christian materials about the glorious garments of Adam and the glorious face of Moses is needed. The Background: The Garments of Light The Biblical passages found in Gen 1:2627 and Gen 3:21 represent two pivotal starting points for the subsequent Jewish and Christian reflections on the glorious garments of Adam and Eve. Gen 1:26 describes the creation of human being(s) after the likeness (úåîã) of the image (íìö) of God. It is noteworthy that Gen 1:2627 refers to the íìö (tselem) of Adam, the lumi- nous image of Gods glory according to which Adam was created.5 The par- ticular interest in Gen 1:26 is that Adams tselem was created after Gods own tselem (åðîìöá) (literally «in our tselem»), being a luminous «imita- tion» of the glorious tselem of God. Some scholars argue that the likeness that Adam and God shared was not physicality in the usual sense of ha- ving a body but rather luminescence.6 The Tarqums, the Aramaic renderings of the Hebrew Bible, also attest to the prelapsarian luminosity of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Biblical background for such traditions includes the passage from Gen 3:21, where «the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skin and clothed them». The Targumic traditions, both Palestinian7 and Babylo- 5 For discussions about the luminous garment/image/body of Adam, see: D. H. AARON, Shedding Light on God’s Body in Rabbinic Midrashim: Reflections on the Theory of a Luminous Adam // Harvard Theological Review 90 (1997) 299–314; S. BROCK, Clothing Metaphors as a Means of Theological Expression in Syriac Tradi- tion // Typus, Symbol, Allegorie bei den östlichen Vätern und ihren Parallelen im Mittelalter (Regensburg, 1982) (Eichstätter Beiträge 4) 11–40; A. D. DE CONICK, J. FOSSUM, Stripped before God: A New Interpretation of Logion 37 in the Gospel of Thomas // VC 45 (1991) 141; A. D. DE CONICK, Seek to See Him: Ascent and Vision Mysticism in the Gospel of Thomas (Leiden, 1996) (SVC, 33); L. GINZBERG, The Legends of the Jews (7 vols.: Philadelphia, 1955) Vol. 5. 97; A. G. GOTTSTEIN, The Body as Image of God in Rabbinic Literature // Harvard Theological Review 87 (1994) 171–195; B. MURMELSTEIN, Adam, ein Beitrag zur Messiaslehre // Wiener Zeits- chrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 35 (1928) 255; W. STAERK, Die Erlösererwar- tung in den östlichen Religionen (Stuttgart and Berlin, 1938) 11. 6 AARON, Shedding Light on God’s Body… 303. 7 In Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Gen 3:21, the following tradition can be found: «And the Lord God made garments of glory for Adam and for his wife from the skin which the serpent had cast off (to be worn) on the skin of their (garments of) finger- nails of which they had been stripped, and he clothed them». Targum Pseudo-Jona- A. Orlov 501 nian,8 read, instead of «garments of skin», «garments of glory». This Targu- mic interpretation is reinforced by Rabbinic sources. One of them can be found in Genesis Rabbah 20:12, which tells that the scroll of Rabbi Meir reads «garments of light» (øåà úåðúë) instead of «garments of skin» (øåò úåðúë): «In R.
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