kabbalah Gershom scholem

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT 17
tion is to b found in the Gnostic Markos' description of the "body of truth."
There also exist a number of Gnostic gems which, like the Hebrew fragments of
Shi'ur Komah, bear the figure of a man whose limbs are inscribed with magical
combinations of letters, obviously corresponding to their secret names (cf. C.
Bonner, Hesperia, 23 (1954), 151). A clear reference to this doctrine is found as
early as the Slavonic Book of Enoch (13:8) 5 "I have seen the measure of the
height of the Lord, without dimension and without shape, which has no end."
The passage reflects the precise Hebrew terminology. At least two versions of
this doctrine were current in later talmudic and post-talmudic times, one in the
name of R. Akiva and one in the name of R. Ishmael (both published in the
collection Merkavah She/emah (Jerusalem ( 1922), fol. 32-43). Two manuscripts
from the tenth or 1 1th centuries (Oxford Hebr. C. 65, and Sasso on 52:L) contain
the oldest available texts, but even these are in different stages of corruption.
According to the testimony of Origen (third century), it was not permitted to
study Song of Songs in Jewish circles before the age of full maturity, obviously
because of esoteric teachings like the Shi'ur Komah doctrine which were connected
with it. The Midrashim on the Song of Songs reflect such esoteric understanding
in many passages. The fragments of Shi 'ur Komah were known in the
sixth century, if not earlier, to the poet Eleazar ha-Kallir.
The provocative anthropomorphism of these passages perplexed many rabbis,
and was the object of attacks by the Karaites - so much so that even Maimonides,
who at first regarded the Shi'ur Komah as an authoritative work requiring
interpretation (in his original Ms. of his commentary to the Mishnah, Sanh. I 0),
later repudiated it, believing it to be a late forgery (Teshuvot ha-Rambam
(1934), no. 117). In fact, the Shi'ur Komah was an early and genuine part of
mystic teaching in the days of the tannaim. The theory does not imply that God
in Himself possesses a physical form, but only that a form of this kind may be
ascribed to "the Glory," which in some passages is called guf ha-Shekhinah ("the
body of the Divine Presence"). Shi'ur Komah is based on the descriptions of the
beloved in Song of Songs (5: 11-16), and it apparently became a part of the
esoteric interpretation of this book. Perhaps the idea of the "tunic" and garment
of God also belonged to the Shi'ur Komah. This "tunic" is of great significance
in the rna 'aseh bereshit of the Heikhalot Rabbati. and echoes of this idea can be
found in the rabbinic aggadot concerning the garment of light in which the Holy
One, blessed be He, wrapped himself at the moment of creation.
The ascent and passage through the first six palaces are described at length in
the Heikhalot Rabbati. with details of all the technical and magical means which
assist the ascending spirit and save it from the dangers lying in wait for it. These
dangers were given much emphasis in all Merkabah traditions. Deceptive visions
meet the ascending soul and angels of destruction try to confound it. At the