THE SECRETS OF R.

ŠIM‘ŌN BEN YOḤAI

The eminent nineteenth-century historian Heinrich Graetz enthusiastically endorsed the Secrets

(úåøúñð) of R. Šim‘ōn ben Yoḥai as ‘das älteste Schriftdenkmal aus der gaonäischen Zeit und die älteste

mystische Schrift.’ 1 While Graetz’s temporal evaluation of this apocalypse’s significance is no longer a

tenable one, his perceptive recognition of its fundamental importance for the history of Jewish apocalyptic

thought continues to stand the test of time.

Rabbi Šim‘ōn ben Yoḥai, a prominent rabbinic Sage whose floruit was in the generation following

the disastrous Second Jewish Revolt (132-35 CE), is characterized by Daniel Boyarin as ‘the most radical

rejector of Rome, its culture, its legitimacy, and its value among the Tannaitic figures.’ 2 His strident

opposition to foreign imperial hegemony made him an ideal figure around which to cluster literary

expressions of nationalist hopes for ultimate vindication and deliverance. Rabbinic literature also

represents R. Šim‘on as especially prone to consultations with representatives of the celestial world and as

an adept in magical lore, thereby fostering a profile which is mimicked in these apocalypses by his

successful performance of an efficacious ascetical regimen that invokes Metatron, angelic Prince of the

Divine Presence, for the purpose of conveying ‘the secrets’ (úåøúñðä) pertaining to the last days.

Emblematic of the popular estimation of R. Šim‘on’s occultist talents will be the later pseudepigraphic

1
Heinrich Graetz, Geschichte der Juden von den ältesten Zeiten bis auf die Gegenwart (3d ed.; 11 vols.
in 13; Leipzig: Oskar Leiner, 1890-1908), 5:412. Graetz dates Secrets to between August and October 750
CE, and Prayer several centuries later to the time of the last Crusades.
2
Daniel Boyarin, Dying for God: Martyrdom and the Making of Christianity and Judaism (Stanford:
Stanford University Press, 1999), 64.

31
ascription to him of the Zohar, undoubtedly the most important and influential collection of esoteric

teachings which comprise Jewish Kabbalah. 3

Given his reputation, it is not surprising to find the name of R. Šim‘on attached to a small number of

apocalypses stemming from the post-rabbinic era. The oldest of these works is undoubtedly the Secrets, a

narrative compilation of traditions which achieved an initial written form sometime not long after the mid-

eighth century. The historical section of Secrets is notable for its thinly veiled allusions to the prophetic

mission of Muḥammad and the Arab conquest of Jerusalem and Eretz Israel during the fourth decade of the

seventh century, and its selectively truncated sequencing of seventh and eighth-century Umayyad rulers up

until the ‘Abbāsid revolution. Based upon the originally positive appraisals of the advent of Muḥammad

and the early years of the Muslim conquest detectable in this section, it is possible that core portions of the

Secrets rely on sources which date from the mid-seventh century. 4 On the other hand, its immediate

inclusion of the beginning of a popular eschatological logion attributed to R. Ishmael 5 alongside a second

negatively colored interpretation of Num 24:21 vituperating the ‘kingdom of Ishmael’ as simply another

oppressive empire that would enslave and mistreat Israel drastically tempers what must have once been a

qualified endorsement of nascent Islam as a type of Jewish messianic movement. Other apocalypses

belonging to this same cycle—the so-called ‘Atidot (úåãéúò) of R. Šim‘on ben Yoḥai and the Prayer of R.

Šim‘on ben Yoḥai—accentuate the invective against Islam and extend the historical narrative of the

apocalypse well into the ‘Abbāsid period and into the era of the Crusades.

The Secrets of R. Šim‘ōn ben Yoḥai were first published in Salonika in 1743 within the same

anthology of midrashic texts that contains Sefer Elijah. This version of the text was reprinted by Adolph

3
The primary rabbinic traditions about R. Šim‘on have been thoroughly explored in B.-Z. Rosenfeld, “R.
Simeon b. Yohai: Wonder Worker and Magician Scholar, Saddiq and Hasid,” REJ 158 (1999): 349-84.
For a stimulating presentation of the ‘messianic’ dimensions of his persona, see Yehuda Liebes, “The
Messiah of the Zohar: On R. Simeon bar Yohai as a Messianic Figure,” in idem, Studies in the Zohar
(Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993), 1-84.
4
See Salo M. Baron, A Social and Religious History of the Jews (18 vols.; 2d ed.; New York and
Philadelphia: Columbia University Press and the Jewish Publication Society, 1952-83), 3:93, 274 n.27;
Gilbert Dagron, “Introduction historique: Entre histoire et apocalypse,” Travaux et mémoires 11 (1991): 43.
A valuable discussion of the Secrets and its possible historical context is provided by Graetz, Geschichte,
5:406-13.
5
See the translation and commentary to the end of Pirqe R. El. §30 in the present volume.

32
Jellinek in his Bet ha-Midrasch. 6 Jellinek’s text was subsequently reproduced by Yehudah Even-Shmuel; 7

using the various extant versions of this midrash, the same scholar also generated a suggested Vorlage for

the Secrets 8 and also reproduced the variant recension (éàçåé ïá ïåòîù 'ø úåãéúò) contained within a larger

eschatological work concerning the ‘Ten Kings’ which was first published by H. M. Horowitz in 1891. A.

Z. Aescoly provides an abridged version of Jellinek’s text along with a brief commentary in his important

anthology of Jewish messianic literature. 9 A Cairo Genizah fragment of the opening section of the Secrets

was published by S. A. Wertheimer. 10 A fifteenth-century manuscript version of Secrets is available in

Munich Ms. Hebr. 222, a work which also features important editions of Pirqe Mašiaḥ and Sefer Elijah. 11

Unpublished manuscript fragments include Oxford Ms. Heb. f. 27 (2642) fols. 42-43 and Oxford Ms. Heb.

d. 46 (2643) fols. 72-73. 12 The present translation is based on the text reproduced by Jellinek. 13

These are the secrets that were revealed to R. Šim‘on b. Yoḥai when he was hiding in a cave on

account of (the persecutions of) Caesar king of Edom (i.e., Rome). 14 He stood in prayer forty days and

6
Adolph Jellinek, ed., Bet ha-Midrasch: Sammlung kleiner Midraschim und vermischter Abhandlungen
aus der jüdischen Literatur (6 vols.; Leipzig, 1853-77; repr., Jerusalem: Bamberger & Wahrmann, 1938),
3:78-82.
7
Yehudah Even-Shmuel, Midreshey Ge’ullah (2d ed.; Jerusalem: Mosad Bialik, 1954), 401-403.
8
Ibid., 187-98.
9
Aaron Ze’ev Aescoly, Messianic Movements in Israel, Volume One: From the Bar-Kokhba Revolt until
the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain (ed. Yehudah Even-Shmuel; 2d ed.; Jerusalem: Mosad Bialik, 1987),
133-38.
10
S. A. Wertheimer, Batey Midrashot (2 vols.; repr., Jerusalem: Ktav wa-Sefer, 1980), 2:25-26; see also
2:506-507.
11
Moses Buttenwieser, Outline of the Neo-Hebraic Apocalyptic Literature (Cincinnati: Jennings & Pye,
1901), 39. Secrets occupies fols. 107b-111a of this manuscript, where it ‘contains better readings in some
places’ according to Buttenwieser; whereas Moritz Steinschneider opined that ‘die Varianten sind sehr
unbedeutend’ (“Apokalypsen mit polemischer Tendenz,” ZDMG 28 [1874]: 637).
12
See Adolf Neubauer and A. E. Cowley, Catalogue of the Hebrew Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library
Volume Two (Oxford: Clarendon, 1906), 37 §9.
13
Another English translation of the Jellinek edition is in David C. Mitchell, The Message of the Psalter:
An Eschatological Programme in the Book of Psalms (JSOTSup 252; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press,
1997), 329-34; 347-50 (text).
14
The talmudic legend of R. Šim‘on’s thirteen-year sequestration in a cave can be found in b. Šabb. 33b-
34a; see also y. Šeb. 9.1, 38d; Gen. Rab. 79.6; Pesiq. Rab Kah. 11.16 (Mandelbaum, 1:191-93); Qoh. Rab.
10.8. A comprehensive analysis of the rabbinic legend is provided by Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, Talmudic
Stories: Narrative Art, Composition, and Culture (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University
Press, 1999), 105-38.

33
forty nights, and began thusly: ‘Lord God, how long will you spurn the prayer of your servant?’ 15

Immediately there were revealed to him the secrets of the eschaton and (various) hidden things.

He began to sit and expound (the passage) ‘and he beheld the Kenite’ (Num 24:21). 16 When he

perceived that the kingdom of Ishmael would come (and exercise dominion over Israel), he exclaimed: ‘Is

it not sufficient what the wicked kingdom of Edom has done to us that we should also (suffer the dominion

of) the kingdom of Ishmael!?’ 17 Immediately Metatron the prince of the Presence answered him and

said: 18 ‘Do not be afraid, mortal, for the Holy One, blessed be He, is bringing about the kingdom of

Ishmael only for the purpose of delivering you from that wicked one (i.e., Edom). 19 He shall raise up over

them a prophet in accordance with His will, 20 and He will subdue the land for them; and they shall come

and restore it with grandeur. 21 Great enmity 22 will exist between them and the children of Esau.’

15
Cf. Ps 80:5. A suitably penitent and supplicatory prayer is supplied in the closely allied apocalypse
entitled Prayer of R. Šim‘on ben Yoḥai.
16
The identity of the ‘Kenite’ in the Secrets, as opposed to the fuller Prayer, is allegedly problematic in
that it seems to encode the same group as the phrase ‘kingdom of Ishmael.’ See the arguments of Patricia
Crone and Michael Cook, Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1977), 35-37; Moshe Gil, A History of Palestine, 634-1099 (trans. Ethel Broido; Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1992), 62 n.65. The responsum of R. Hai Gaon (translated later in this
volume) explicitly declares the ‘Kenite’ to be ‘Midian’ or ‘Ishmael.’
17
Genizah fragment reads: äòùøä úåëìî åðá úùòù äî åðééã àì ‘is it not sufficient what the wicked
kingdom has done to us?’
18
Genizah fragment reads: íéðôä øù ïåøèèî éì äðòð êë ïåòîù 'ø øîà.
19
Genizah fragment reads: åéðôì òåãéå éåìâù àìà ìàøùé úà àéöåäì ãéúò àåä êåøá ùåã÷ä ïéàù éðá àøéú ìà
äòùøä úåëìî ãéî íòéùåäì éãë íäéìò ìàòîùé úåëìî àéöåî àåä êåøá ùåã÷ä åá íéöåçì ìàøùéù õçìá.
20
Genizah fragment reads: çåøä ùéàå äèåù àéáð ‘a demented prophet possessed by a spirit,’ clearly a
revision of the older positive evaluation of Muḥammad found in our text above. Munich Ms. Heb. 222
similarly reads: òâåùîå àéáð äèåù ‘a demented and crazed prophet.’ See the corresponding portion of
Prayer; also Steinschneider, “Apokalypsen,” 635 n.18; Bernard Lewis, “An Apocalyptic Vision of Islamic
History,” BSOAS 13 (1949-51): 323 n.4. For further evidence that Levantine Jews initially welcomed the
mission of Muḥammad, see the early seventh-century Doctrina Iacobi nuper baptizati (ed. N. Bonwetsch;
Abhandlungen der königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, phil.-hist. klass., n.f., bd. 12,
nr. 3; Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1910), 86, cited by David M. Olster, Roman Defeat, Christian
Response, and the Literary Construction of the Jew (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994),
171; see also Robert G. Hoyland, Seeing Islam As Others Saw It: A Survey and Evaluation of Christian,
Jewish and Zoroastrian Writings on Early Islam (Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam 13; Princeton:
The Darwin Press, 1997), 55-61. It has been plausibly suggested that the original text’s recognition of the
prophetic status of Muḥammad reflects a close relationship with the eighth-century Jewish ‘Īsāwiyya sect, a
messianic movement sparked by Abū ‘Īsā al-Iṣfahānī, who accorded prophetic status to a number of
Gentile figures as well as Jesus and Muḥammad. Note S. D. Goitein, Jews and Arabs: Their Contacts
Through the Ages (rev. ed.; New York: Schocken, 1974), 170; Steven M. Wasserstrom, “The ‘Īsāwiyya
Revisited,” Studia Islamica 75 (1992): 62, 65-70; Yoram Erder, “The Doctrine of Abū ‘Īsā al-Iṣfahānī and
its Sources,” JSAI 20 (1996): 168. Maqrīzī reports that ‘Ānān likewise acknowledged the prophetic status
of Muḥammad: ‫‘ ﻭﺍﺛﺒﺖ ﻧﺒﻮﺓ ﳏﻤﺪ ﺻﻠﻌﻢ ﻭﻗﺎﻝ ﻫﻮ ﻧﱮ ﺍﺭﺳﻞ ﺍﱃ ﺍﻟﻌﺮﺏ‬He (‘Ānān) affirmed the prophetic standing of
Muḥammad, God bless him and grant him salvation, and stated that he was a prophet sent (by God) to the
Arabs.’ Text cited from A. I. Silvestre de Sacy, Chrestomathie arabe (3 vols.; Paris: Imprimerie impériale,

34
 R. Šim‘on answered and said: ‘From whence are they (understood as) our deliverance?’ 23 He said

to him: ‘Did not Isaiah the prophet speak thusly? “And should 24 he see chariotry of a pair of riders, one

riding an ass, (and) one riding a camel” (Isa 21:7).’ 25 Why did he put the ‘rider of an ass’ before the ‘rider

of a camel’? Should he not instead have said ‘rider of a camel, rider of an ass’? (No, the textual sequence

means that) when the one who rides the camel (Ishmael or Muḥammad) emerges, the kingdom ruled by the

‘one mounted upon an ass’ (Zech 9:9) 26 has manifested (lit. ‘sprouted’) by his (i.e., Ishmael’s or

Muḥammad’s) agency. 27 Another opinion: ‘rider of an ass’ (means) at the (same) time when he ‘rides upon

1806), 1:162.9-10. On the more general possibility that Muḥammad was initially viewed with favor by
segments of the Jewish community, see Chaim Rabin, Qumran Studies (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1957; repr., New York: Schocken Books, 1975), 123-28; Crone and Cook, Hagarism, 4-9; Gil, History of
Palestine, 63 n.65; 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), 32-33.
21
Genizah fragment reads: äìåãâá úåëìîä íé÷éæçîå íéàá íäå ‘and they shall come and seize the kingdom
with might.’ Shoemaker reads the singular subject of the base text’s verb (ùåáëéå) as referring to ‘the
prophet’ and makes a compelling case for this interpretation; see Stephen J. Shoemaker, The Death of a
Prophet: The End of Muhammad’s Life and the Beginnings of Islam (Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 2012), 28-33.
22
Read with the Genizah fragment äáéàå here instead of äîéàå as in Jellinek’s edition; see Graetz,
Geschichte, 5:407; Lewis, “Apocalyptic Vision,” 309 n.2; 312 n.3.
23
Genizah fragment reads: ìàòîùé éðá íä äòåùé éëå ‘are the Ishmaelites a deliverance?!?’
24
See the remarks of Ibn Ezra to this verse.
25
There is no need to posit a reliance upon the targumic rendering of this verse, as suggested by Crone
and Cook (Hagarism, 153 n.13), since consonantal áëø can just as easily be read áëåø in the pre-Masoretic
age. Note, e.g., the 1QIsaa scroll, where the received text’s ìîâ áëø øåîç áëø becomes ìîâ áëåø øåîç áëåø.
The íéùøô ãîö áëø in this specific interpretative context is almost certainly an allusion to the return of
Elijah; cf. 2 Kgs 2:12. Contrast the interpretation of this verse contained in the Prayer of R. Šim‘on b.
Yoḥai (Jellinek, BHM 4:119.23-28).
For the various uses of this proof-text by Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike, see Gustave E. von
Grunebaum, Medieval Islam: A Study in Cultural Orientation (2d ed.; Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1953), 17-18. According to Q 7:157, both the Jewish and Christian scriptures contain prophetic
predictions of the advent of Muḥammad.
26
See the medieval commentaries ad loc. The Prayer inserts a quotation from Zech 9:9 at this point in
order to cement the identification between the ‘ass-rider’ and the Messiah.
27
Compare the language of Prayer (Jellinek, BHM 4:119.26-27: çéùî úåëìî çîöú åéîéáù ‘for in his
(Ishmael’s) days the messianic kingdom will sprout.’
This argument may reflect the author’s cognizance of a popular Muslim reading of this proof-text. See
for example Kirmānī, Kitāb al-maṣābīḥ: ‫‘ ﻓﺮﺍﻛﺐ ﺍﳊﻤﺎﺭ ﻛﺎﻥ ﻋﻴﺴﻰ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﺍﻟﺴﻼﻡ ﻭﺭﺍﻛﺐ ﺍﳉﻤﻞ ﻛﺎﻥ ﳏﻤﺪ ﺻﻠﻰ ﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻭﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﻪ‬the
rider of the ass is Jesus, upon whom be peace, and the rider of the camel is Muḥammad, may God bless and
exalt him.’ Text cited from the edition provided by Paul Kraus, “Hebräische und syrische Zitate in
ismā‘īlitischen Schriften,” Der Islam 19 (1930): 246, and see Kraus’s remarks on p. 250. Note also Bīrūnī,
al-Āthār al-bāqiya ‘an-il-qurūn al-khāliya (ed. C. E. Sachau; repr., Leipzig: Otto Harrassowitz, 1923), 19,
cited in English translation by Gil, History of Palestine, 63; and also the broader discussion of Suliman
Bashear, “Riding Beasts on Divine Missions: An Examination of the Ass and Camel Traditions,” JSS 37
(1991): 37-75.

35
an ass’ (Zech 9:9). Consequently they (Ishmael) are a deliverance for Israel like the deliverance (associated

with) the ‘one mounted upon an ass’ (Zech 9:9). 28

Moreover R. Šim‘on reported that he learned from R. Ishmael 29 at the time when the latter learned

that the kingdom of Ishmael was coming that (the kingdom of Ishmael) will measure the land with ropes, 30

as Scripture says: ‘and the land will be apportioned for wages’ (cf. Dan 11:39; also Joel 4:2). They will

make cemeteries pastureland for (grazing) flocks, 31 and when one of them dies, they will bury him any

place they please. They will then turn around and plow the grave and sow seed on it, as Scripture attests:

‘Thus the children of Israel will eat their food in a state of impurity’ (Ezek 4:13). Why so? Because (the

location of) impure field(s) will be unknown.

Again ‘he beheld the Kenite’ (Num 24:21). What was the parable that wicked one (Balaam)

pronounced? When he foresaw that his (i.e., the Kenite’s) descendants 32 were destined to arise and enslave

Israel, he began rejoicing and said: ‘“Ethan (ïúéà) is your place of dwelling” (Num 24:21)—I see human

beings who are occupied only with the commandments of “Ethan (ïúéà) the Ezrahite” (1 Kgs 5:11; Ps

89:1).’ 33

28
There are some intriguing messianic dimensions, including the riding of an ass, to the traditions
surrounding the advent and activities in Jerusalem of the second caliph ‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb. See Crone
and Cook, Hagarism, 5; Heribert Busse, “‘Omar b. al-Ḫaṭṭāb in Jerusalem,” JSAI 5 (1984): 73-119; idem,
“‘Omar’s Image as the Conqueror of Jerusalem,” JSAI 8 (1986): 149-68; Suliman Bashear, “The Title
«Fārūq» and its Association with ‘Umar I,” Studia Islamica 72 (1990): 47-70.
29
Regarding the source of these traditions, see the following two notes.
30
Some versions of Pirqe R. El. §30 conclude with a statement attributed to R. Ishmael outlining the
‘fifteen things’ which the Ishmaelites will do in the land of Israel at the ‘end of days.’ There too the list
begins with íéìáçá õøàä úà åããîå ‘they will measure the land with ropes.’ Text cited from HUC Ms. 75
fol. 44a.
31
Pirqe R. El. §30 (HUC Ms. 75 fol. 44a): úåúôùàå ïàö õáøî úåøá÷ä úéá åùòéå. For a possible
correlation of this surveying activity with the reign of al-Ma’mūn (813-33 CE), see D. Chwolsohn, Die
Ssabier und der Ssabismus (2 vols.; St. Petersburg: Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1856),
1:98 n.4; Gil, History of Palestine, 295.
32
The Arab tribes. See Judg 4:11; Num 10:29; 1 Chr 2:55. Tg. Onk. Num 24:21 translates ‘Kenite’ as
‘Shalmaite’ (äàîìù), the name of an Arab tribe; see also Crone and Cook, Hagarism, 35-36; Moshe Gil,
Jews in Islamic Countries in the Middle Ages (trans. David Strassler; Leiden: Brill, 2004), 16. Graetz
(Geschichte, 5:407 n.1) appeals to a parallel passage from a manuscript copy of the Sefer ha-‘Osher of the
eleventh-century Karaite commentator Jacob ben Reuben: ìàòîùé úåëìî åæ éð÷ä úà àøéå ‘he beheld the
Kenite (Num 24:21)—this is the kingdom of Ishmael.’
33
Lewis (“Apocalyptic Vision,” 313 n.1) notes the frequent midrashic assimilation between Ethan and
Abraham; see, e.g., b. B. Bat. 15a; Lev. Rab. 9.1 (Margulies, 1:174); Tg. Ps 89:1 and Rashi ad loc.; Rashi
and Radaq ad 1 Kgs 5:11. Since the Qur’ān expressly equates the religion of Islam with the ‘religion of
your ancestor Abraham’ (Q 22:78) and repeatedly invokes Abraham as a precursor of Muḥammad, this
peculiar exegesis reflects a Jewish accommodation to these rhetorical claims. For a suggestive association
of one or more ‘commandments’ with Abraham, see Q 2:124; 43:28. Note also the important discussion of
Crone and Cook, Hagarism, 10-15.

36
 The second king who will arise from Ishmael 34 will be a friend of Israel. He will repair their

breaches 35 and (fix) the breaches of the Temple and shape Mt. Moriah 36 and make the whole of it a level

plain. He will build for himself there a place for prayer (äéåçúùä) upon the site of the ‘foundation stone’

(äéúù ïáà), 37 as Scripture says: ‘and set your nest on the rock’ (Num 24:21). 38 He will wage war with the

children of Esau and slaughter their troops and capture a large number of them, and (eventually) he will die

in peace and with great honor. 39

And there shall arise a great king from Ḥaṣarmawet (cf. Gen 10:26), but he will exercise rule only

for a few years. Warriors of the children of Qedar 40 shall rise up against him and kill him, 41 and bring to

34
Apparently the second caliph ‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (634-644 CE); see Graetz, Geschichte, 5:407;
Aescoly, Messianic Movements, 137 n.2; David Cook, Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic (Princeton: The
Darwin Press, 2002), 55 n.77. Contrary to what is often reported, ‘Umar apparently relaxed the Hadrianic
ban against Jewish residence in Jerusalem. See the numerous primary sources cited and discussed by Gil,
History of Palestine, 68-74; idem, “The Jewish Community,” in The History of Jerusalem: The Early
Muslim Period, 638-1099 (ed. Joshua Prawer and Haggai Ben-Shammai; Jerusalem and New York: Yad
Izhak Ben-Zvi and New York University Press, 1996), 163-71. ‘Umar however did not ‘die in peace,’ as
the end of the notice states, but was murdered. See Hoyland, Seeing Islam, 311-12.
35
Cf. Amos 9:11.
36
I.e., Zion or the Temple mount. Cf. 2 Chr 3:1; y. Ber. 4.5, 8c; Sifre Deut §62 (Finkelstein, 128).
37
According to Jewish tradition, this rock marked the site where the Ark of the Presence resided in
Solomon’s Temple and was reportedly part of the raw material from which God formed the universe; see
m. Yoma 5.2 and especially t. Yoma 2.14 (Lieberman). It is this same rock that serves as a launching pad
for Muḥammad’s tour of the heavens. The author apparently viewed this caliph’s construction activity as
tantamount to rebuilding the Temple.
38
Given the proof-text, there is here a possible confusion with the later construction (692 CE) by ‘Abd al-
Malik of the shrine known as the Dome of the Rock (qubbat al-ṣakhra); see Gil, History of Palestine, 91-
92. Despite numerous assertions, it is very unclear what ‘Umar might have erected on the Temple Mount.
The earliest unambiguous reference to a structure is in the report of the Christian pilgrim Arculfus (from
between 679 and 682 CE) which speaks of a ‘quadrangular house of prayer’ (quadrangulam orationis
domum) constructed of wooden beams and boards which could reportedly hold three thousand worshippers;
for his testimony, see F. E. Peters, Jerusalem: The Holy City in the Eyes of Chroniclers, Visitors, Pilgrims,
and Prophets from the Days of Abraham to the Beginnings of Modern Times (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1985), 195-96; Gil, History of Palestine, 91; Hoyland, Seeing Islam, 221. An elegant
summation of possibilities is provided by Heribert Busse, review of Andreas Kaplony, The Ḥaram of
Jerusalem 324-1099, in JSAI 29 (2004): 435-36. For thorough discussions of ‘Umar’s reputed activities on
the Temple Mount, including legends involving the ‘foundation stone,’ see Busse, “‘Omar b. al-Ḫaṭṭāb in
Jerusalem,” 73-119, esp. 86-94; Amikam Elad, Medieval Jerusalem and Islamic Worship: Holy Places,
Ceremonies, Pilgrimage (2d ed.; Leiden: Brill, 1999), 29-33.
39
Some of this material that purportedly pertains to the caliphate of ‘Umar probably should be correlated
with Mu‘āwiya b. Abī Sufyān (661-80 CE), the first Umayyad caliph, who also took an interest in
Jerusalem and its holy sites. Note Lewis, “Apocalyptic Vision,” 328; Peters, Jerusalem, 200; Averil
Cameron, “The Jews in Seventh-Century Palestine,” Scripta Classica Israelica 13 (1994): 81-82; Hoyland,
Seeing Islam, 312; Elad, Medieval Jerusalem, 23-24.
40
The patronymic ‘Qedar’ (øã÷) functions as a code for ‘Arabs’; see Tg. Isa 21:17; Tg. Jer 2:10; Tg. Ps.-
J. Gen 25:13; and Radaq ad Isa 21:13: øã÷ éðá íäå áøò ìò äøîàð åæ äàåáð. See Moritz Steinschneider,
Polemische und apologetische Literatur in arabischer Sprache zwischen Muslimen, Christen und Juden,
nebst Anhängen verwandten Inhalts (Leipzig, 1877; repr., Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1966), 254. For an
extended discussion of the mythopoeic dimensions of this name, see Jaroslav Stetkevych, Muhammad and

37
power another king whose name is åàéøî. 42 They shall take him from following flocks and mule-herds and

elevate him to the kingship. There shall arise from him ‘four arms’ 43 who will make repairs on the Temple.

At the end of the reign of the ‘four arms’ there shall come to power another king. 44 He will

diminish measures for quantity, length, and weight, and enjoy three years of tranquility. A dispute will

erupt in the world during his reign, and he will send out mighty forces against the Edomites. There

(Byzantium?) they 45 will die of hunger, even though they will have abundant provisions—he will refuse

(sustenance) from them, (and) none will be given him. The children of Edom will prevail over the children

of Ishmael and slaughter them. Then the children of Ishmael will arise and burn the provisions, and those

who are left will flee and depart. 46

After this a great king will come to power and rule for nineteen years. 47 These are his

distinguishing marks (lit. ‘signs’): reddish-hued, squinty-eyed (?), 48 and he will have three moles: one on

his forehead, one on his right hand, and one on his left arm. He will plant saplings and rebuild ruined cities

and tap subterranean waters to bring up water to irrigate his plantings so that his future descendants will

have plenty to eat. All who arise to oppose him will submit to his power, and the land will remain

undisturbed during his reign, and he will die peacefully.

the Golden Bough: Reconstructing Arabian Myth (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press,
1996), 69-77.
41
A reference to the rebellion against (fitna) and murder of the third caliph ‘Uthmān (644-656 CE)? So
Graetz, Geschichte, 5:407; more hesitantly, Aescoly, Messianic Movements, 137 n.3. A better candidate is
probably the ill-fated ‘Alī (656-661); see Steinschneider, “Apokalypsen,” 637; Lewis, “Apocalyptic
Vision,” 328; Crone and Cook, Hagarism, 178 n.68.
42
Graetz (Geschichte, 5:407-408) suggests that this is corrupt for Mu‘āwiya (åàéåòî or äéåàòî). His
emendation is accepted by Aescoly, Messianic Movements, 137 n.4. However, as Steinschneider observes,
the same supposedly ‘corrupt’ reading (i.e., åàéøî) is also present in Munich Ms. Heb. 222. The
corresponding passage in Prayer has ïååøî; i.e., Marwān. Lewis (“Apocalyptic Vision,” 325 n.4) suggests
that it is Marwān I (684-85 CE), father of ‘Abd al-Malik.
43
òáøà úåòåøæ. Lewis identifies this group as the four sons of ‘Abd al-Malik (685-705 CE) who became
caliphs (“Apocalyptic Vision,” 327). For a similar vocabulary, see Dan 11:31.
44
Sulaymān (715-717 CE)?
45
Read with Lewis’s emendation (“Apocalyptic Vision,” 325 n.5).
46
A reference to Sulaymān’s expedition against and siege of Constantinople. See Graetz, Geschichte,
5:408-409; Lewis, “Apocalyptic Vision,” 327; Harry Turtledove, The Chronicle of Theophanes
(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982), 88-90.
47
Hishām (724-743 CE), rather than ‘Abd al-Malik (Gil, History of Palestine, 109). Regarding the
construction projects of Hishām, see especially the references cited by Garth Fowden, Quṣayr ‘Amra: Art
and the Umayyad Elite in Late Antique Syria (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004), 169 n.144;
also 280.

38
 Then another king will arise who will seek to cut off the waters of the Jordan. 49 He will bring far-

away peoples from alien lands to excavate and build a canal to bring up the waters of the Jordan to irrigate

the land. The excavated portion of the land will collapse upon them and kill them. Their leaders will hear

(about this), and then rebel against the king and kill him.

Another king will then arise—a strong (king) and warrior. 50 A dispute will erupt in the world

during his reign. This will be the sign for you: when you see that the western ïåøéâ has fallen 51 —(the one)

at the western side of (the place of) prayer of the children of Ishmael in Damascus—his dominion will have

‘fallen.’ They will be assembled and marched out to do forced labor, and indeed the kingdom of Ishmael

will collapse. Scripture affirms concerning them: ‘The Lord has broken the rod of the wicked’ (Isa 14:5),

where (the word) ‘rod’ (äèî) signifies Ishmael. 52 And who is this? It is Marwān. 53 Warriors from the

sons of Qedar will still remain with him, but the northeastern corner (of his kingdom) will rebel and come

up against him. 54 There shall fall from among his forces three great armies at the Tigris and at the

48
So Aescoly, Messianic Movements, 137 n.8. The Hebrew is ïéòä ïôéù, which Steinschneider
(“Apokalypsen,” 638 n.25) connects with ‫ ﺷﻔﻦ‬and translates ‘cross-eyed.’ Cf. Lewis, “Apocalyptic Vision,”
325 n.7 for further discussion of this difficult text.
49
Walīd II (743-744 CE). Walīd’s involvement in the Jordan canal project and his assassination by Yazīd
are confirmed by Ṭabarī; see Gil, History of Palestine, 108-109. See also Fowden, Quṣayr ‘Amra, 156-57;
254 n.13.
50
Marwān II (744-50 CE), the last Umayyad ruler. See below.
51
ïåøéâ is the eastern wall or gate of the Damascus mosque (‫ ;)ﺑﺎﺏ ﺟﲑﻭﻥ‬it is identified correctly at the end
of the present composition in a passage which probably derives from a version of Prayer. See especially
Steinschneider, “Apokalypsen,” 638-45; note also Naphtali Wieder, The Judean Scrolls and Karaism
(London: East and West Library, 1962), 19-20.
According to an eschatological prophecy attributed to Arṭāt b. al-Mundhir (d. 779-80), an ascetic
visionary of Syria, the so-called Sufyānī, the legendary adversary of the ‘Alid Mahdī, would be slain by the
Mahdī ‘at the gate of Jayrūn’ in Damascus. Another prophecy associates the advent of the Sufyānī with the
time when ‘a portion of the west (front) of her mosque will fall down’; cf. Wilferd Madelung, “The Sufyānī
Between Tradition and History,” Studia Islamica 63 (1986): 5-48, at 25-28. Compare the intriguing
tradition found in Midr. Tanḥ. Buber, Wayishlaḥ §8: åéãéîìúì àîñé÷ ïá éñåé 'ø ïúð ïîéñ äî åðéáø åðãîìé
åù÷áú íúà íëì øîåà éðà íà éñåé 'ø íäì øîà àá ãåã ïá éúîéà éáø éñåé 'øì åì åøîà àéøáèá ïéìééèî åéäù
àá ãåã ïáù ãò åúåðáì ïé÷éôñî ïéàå ìåôéå äðáé ìåôéå äðáé äæä øòùä éøä íäì øîà åàì åì åøîà úåà åðîî; note its
occurrence also in b. Sanh. 98a, where Rashi identifies the collapsing gate as not in Tiberias but in Rome.
Note Jacob Mann, The Bible as Read and Preached in the Old Synagogue, Volume 1: The Palestinian
Triennial Cycle: Genesis and Exodus (Cincinnati, 1940; repr., New York: Ktav, 1971), 262-64.
52
Read with Munich Ms. Heb. 222 (cited by Steinschneider, “Apokalypsen,” 638 n.27). The equation
with ‘Ishmael’ is effected via aural wordplay with the last part of Isa 14:5 (íéìùî èáù íéòùø äèî é''é øáù),
where ‘the scepter of rulers (moshlim)’ is read as ‘the scepter of the Muslims (musl[em]im).’
53
Marwān II was termed al-Ḥimār, the ‘wild ass of Mesopotamia’ in Muslim sources. For the corrupt
Hebrew øòù ïàåøî, read instead ãòù ïàåøî or as in Prayer ïééãòù. See Graetz, Geschichte, 5:410;
Steinschneider, “Apokalypsen,” 638 n.27; Lewis, “Apocalyptic Vision,” 326.
54
I.e., Khurāsān, the province where the ‘Abbāsid movement originated.

39
Euphrates, 55 and he himself will flee from them, but he will be captured and put to death. His sons will be

hung upon wooden scaffolding.

And after this a king ‘strong of face’ (íéðô æò) 56 will arise for three months, 57 and then the wicked

kingdom (i.e., Rome) will rule over Israel for nine months, as Scripture says: ‘Therefore He will give them

until the time the one laboring in childbirth has borne’ (Mic 5:2). And there shall sprout up for them the

Messiah of the lineage of Joseph, and he will bring them up to Jerusalem. He will rebuild the Temple and

offer sacrifices; 58 fire shall descend from heaven and consume their sacrifices, as Scripture promises: ‘and

the violent ones among your people will arise’ (Dan 11:14). If they are not worthy, the Messiah of the

lineage of Ephraim comes; but if they are worthy, the Messiah of the lineage of David will come. 59

A wicked king will arise whose name is Armilos: 60 bald, with small eyes and a leprous forehead; his

right ear closed up and his left ear open. If a good person should speak to him, he will turn his closed ear

toward him, and if a wicked person should speak to him, he will turn his open ear to him. 61 He is the

offspring of Satan and a stone (statue), 62 and he will come up to Jerusalem and incite war with the Messiah

of the lineage of Ephraim at the eastern gate, as Scripture states: ‘and and they shall look to Me about the

one whom they pierced’ (Zech 12:10). 63 Israel will go into exile into the uncleared wilderness to forage

among the salt-plants and broom-sage roots for forty-five days, and then they will be tested and refined, as

55
Read úøôáå in place of ñøôáå. See the parallel passage in Prayer; also Graetz, Geschichte, 5:410;
Even-Shmuel, Midreshey Ge’ullah, 194.
56
See Deut 28:50; Dan 8:23; Tg. Ket. Qoh 8:1.
57
Graetz identified this ruler as al-Saffāḥ (Geschichte, 5:411-12).
58
This reputed activity is presumably dependent upon the cultic tasks ascribed this figure in Sefer
Zerubbabel.
59
This is apparently an application of the interpretation of Isa 60:22 (äðùéçà äúòá) found in b. Sanh.
98a: äúòá åëæ àì äðùéçà åëæ ‘(if) they are worthy, “I will speed it (i.e., redemption) up”; (if) they are not
worthy, “(it will unfold) at its predetermined pace.”’
60
Hebrew ñåàìéîøà. As pointed out in the Introduction, Armilos is the Jewish equivalent to the Christian
Antichrist and the Muslim Dajjāl. This particular designation is first attested in both Jewish and Christian
literature stemming from the first half of the seventh century CE. See Leopold Zunz and Ḥanokh Albeck,
Haderashot be-Yisrael (2d ed.; Jerusalem: Mosad Bialik, 1954), 429-30 n.31. Note also the remarks of
Saadya, Kitâb al-Amânât wa’l-I‘tiqâdât von Sa‘adja b. Jûsuf al-Fajjûmî (ed. S. Landauer; Leiden: Brill,
1880), 239.4-6; 241.11-13; English translation, The Book of Beliefs and Opinions (trans. Samuel
Rosenblatt; New Haven: Yale University Press, 1948), 301-302; 304.
61
Compare the end of Midrash Wa-yosha‘ (Jellinek, BHM 1:56): àáéùëå äçåúô úçàå äîåúñ úéðîéä åðæàå
äçåúôä åðæà åì äèî äòø åì øáãì íãà äöøé íàå äîåúñä åðæà åì äèî úåáåè åì øáãì íãà ‘and his right ear
will be closed up and the (other) one open. Whenever a person comes to tell him good things, he turns his
closed up ear toward him, but if a person wants to speak wickedly, he turns his open ear toward him.’
62
This clause is Aramaic: àðáàãå àðèñã äéøá àåäå. I reject Buttenwieser’s suggested emendation; cf. his
Outline, 34.
63
See b. Sukkah 52a; Ibn Ezra ad Zech 12:10.

40
Scripture says: ‘I shall bring a third (of them) through the fire, etc.’ (Zech 13:9). The Messiah of the

lineage of Ephraim shall die there, and Israel shall mourn for him. After this the Holy One blessed be He

will reveal to them the Messiah of the lineage of David, but Israel will wish to stone him, and they will say

to him: ‘You speak a lie, for the Messiah has already been slain, and there is no other Messiah destined to

arise.’ They will scorn him, as Scripture says: ‘despised and abandoned (by) men’ (Isa 53:3). He shall

withdraw and be hidden from them, as Scripture continues: ‘like one hiding faces from us’ (ibid.). But in

Israel’s great distress, they will turn and cry out from (their) hunger and thirst, and the Holy One, blessed

be He, will be revealed to them in His glory, as Scripture promises: ‘together all flesh will see’ (Isa 40:5).

And the King Messiah will sprout up there, as Scripture says: ‘and behold with the clouds of heaven etc.’

(Dan 7:13), and it is written after it ‘and authority was given to him’ (Dan 7:14). He shall blow (his breath)

at that wicked Armilos and kill him, as Scripture forecasts: ‘he will slay the wicked one with the breath of

his lips’ (Isa 11:4).

The Holy One, blessed be He, will signal for and gather together all Israel and bring them up to

Jerusalem, as Scripture says: ‘Let me signal for them and I will gather them’ (Zech 10:8). Fire will come

down from heaven and consume Jerusalem up to three cubits, and uncircumcised foreigners and the impure

will be removed from its midst. Then a rebuilt and decorated Jerusalem will descend from heaven; in it

seventy-two precious stones will shine from one end of the world to the other. And all the nations will

come to (bask in) her splendor, as Scripture affirms: ‘and the nations will come to your light’ (Isa 60:3). A

rebuilt Temple will descend from the heavens—the one which was folded within Zebul, 64 for thus Moses

perceived under prophetic inspiration, as Scripture says: ‘You will bring it and You will plant it’ (Exod

15:17). 65

Israel will dwell in peace for two thousand years. 66 They will feast upon Behemoth, Leviathan, and

Ziz. 67 They will slaughter Behemoth; Ziz shall rend Leviathan with its ankles; and Moses will come and

64
See b. Ḥag. 12b.
65
Both a new Jerusalem and a new Temple descend from the heavens, a fusion of what were originally
two separate motifs. See Avraham Grossman, “Jerusalem in Jewish Apocalyptic Literature,” in Prawer and
Ben-Shammai, The History of Jerusalem, 302-304.
66
‘Our apocalyptic writer accepted the old aggadic scheme [see b. ‘Abod. Zar. 9b and Rashi ad loc.—
Reeves] wherein the world would exist for only six thousand years, of which the last two thousand would
constitute the days of the Messiah.’ Quoted from Baron, History, 5:148.
67
For the Ziz, a fabulous bird, see b. B. Bat. 73b.

41
slaughter the ‘wild Ziz’ (Ps 50:11; 80:14). 68 At the end of two thousand years, the Holy One, blessed be

He, will sit upon a throne of judgment in the valley of Jehoshaphat. 69 Immediately the heavens and the

earth will wear out and fade away: the sun will be ashamed and the moon embarrassed; 70 the mountains

will shake and the hills will quake (cf. Isa 54:10), so that Israel will no longer have her sins recounted (by

them) to her. The gates of Gehinnom will be opened in the Wadi Joshua, and on the third day the gates of

Eden (will be opened) in the east, as Scripture attests: ‘He will revitalize us for two days; [on the third day

he will raise us up and we will live before Him’] (Hos 6:2)—this (verse) refers to the days of the Messiah,

which are two thousand years (cf. Ps 90:4). And this ‘third day’ is the Day of Judgment, and alas for the

one who is among all those who perish during it! The Holy One, blessed be He, shall cause to pass before

Him every nation, and He shall say to them: ‘You who worshipped gods of silver and gold—see now if

they are able to deliver you!’ Immediately they shall pass by and be immolated, as Scripture states: ‘the

wicked will return to Sheol’ (Ps 9:18). Israel shall come after them, and the Holy One, blessed be he, shall

say to them: ‘Whom have you worshipped?’ They shall respond: ‘indeed You are our Father etc.’ (Isa

63:16). And the nations of the world will gripe from the midst of Gehinnom: ‘Let us see whether He will

judge His people Israel like He judged us!’ Immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, will pass with

Israel 71 through the midst of Gehinnom, and it will be made like cool water before them, as Scripture

attests: ‘and their king shall pass through before them’ (Mic 2:13), and it says: ‘when you walk through fire

you will not be burned’ (Isa 43:2). At that time the transgressors among Israel will be dumped into

Gehinnom for twelve months, 72 but after that (period) the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring them up and

settle them in Eden, and they will enjoy its fruits, as Scripture says: ‘and your people will all be righteous’

(Isa 60:21). 73

68
On this passage, note the remarks of Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews (7 vols.; Philadelphia:
The Jewish Publication Society, 1909-38), 5:48 n.129.
69
Cf. Joel 4:2, 12. Note also the corresponding passage in Midrash Wa-yosha‘.
70
Cf. Isa 24:23.
71
The prooftext would seem to demand this translation.
72
See m. ‘Ed. 2.10; t. Sanh. 13.4 (Zuckermandel, 434); y. Sanh. 10.3, 29b; b. Roš. Haš. 17a; S. ‘Olam
Rab. 3.
73
Most scholars hold that the Secrets originally ends here (Graetz, Geschichte, 5:413; Buttenwieser,
Outline, 39). The remainder of Jellinek’s text is essentially a garbled abridgement of the Prayer of R.
Šim‘on bar Yoḥai.

42
 R. Šim‘on said: The Holy One, blessed be He, will signal to the bee who is at the end of the rivers of

Egypt, and they shall come and wage war in the midst of Egypt. The first king who leads them and brings

them forth is a slave who has rebelled against his master, as Scripture says: ‘Thus says the Lord … to the

despised one, to the one loathed by the nation’ (Isa 49:7)—that is the one held abominable among the

nations; namely, the Canaanites—‘to the slave of kings’ (ibid.). He shall rebel against his overlord, and

others who have rebelled against their masters will be gathered to him, and they shall gradually go out and

seize the kingdom by force. They will make war with the Ishmaelites, kill their warriors, and take

possession of their wealth and property. They are repulsive men, dressed in black and coming from the

East, and they are quick 74 and impetuous, as Scripture says: ‘the nation cruel and impetuous’ (Hab 1:6).

They will ascend the mountain of the height of Israel intending to tear down the Temple and to uproot the

doors, but will (instead) weep bitterly (?).

Four kings shall arise over them: two of them will be princes and two of them chieftains. The first

… (?) and the king who rules after them (sic!) will conduct himself humbly: his eyes will be attractive and

his hair lovely, and he will die in peace, with no one in the world collecting tribute from him. After him

there shall arise a king accompanied by strife. He will station armies by the Euphrates River, but all of

them will fall in a single day. He will flee, but will be captured, and all the time he is held captive there

will be peace in the world. His brothers will rule over all lands.

The fourth king who shall arise over them will be a lover of silver and gold. He will be a dark man

and tall, old and shriveled (?). 75 He will kill those whom they bring to him, and they will install him as

king. He will build boats of bronze and fill them (with) silver and gold, and store them beneath the waters

of the Euphrates in order to reserve them for his sons. 76 But they are destined for Israel, as Scripture says:

‘I will give you treasures (concealed in) darkness and secret hidden things’ (Isa 45:3). During his reign the

74
Sic. Read íéøî, as in Prayer (Jellinek, BHM 4:120) in place of the present text’s íéøäî.
75
Lewis emends øâøâ to ïøâøâ ‘gluttonous’ (“Apocalyptic Vision,” 330 n.1).
76
Compare the analogous pronouncement found in the apocalypse attributed to ‘John the Lesser’ in the
Syriac Gospel of the Twelve Apostles: ¡h„ ˆdGJ ‘ˆ_NKC O\…WN NPACN OhdWJ ¡xp_ es jNMld_N‡ NL ¡gO\C ‘NMkN
‘on that day their trust will be in the wealth which they acquired by deceit and despoliation and which they
stored in a place by the name of Diglat (i.e., the Tigris River).’ Syriac text cited from J. Rendel Harris, ed.,
The Gospel of the Twelve Apostles: Together with the Apocalypses of Each One of Them (Cambridge: The
University Press, 1900), 21.10-11 (text), and note especially the remarks of Harris, Gospel, 22. For further
discussion, see Han J. W. Drijvers, “The Gospel of the Twelve Apostles: A Syriac Apocalypse from the
Early Islamic Period,” in The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near East, I: Problems in the Literary Source

43
western quadrant will rebel, and he will dispatch there many troops, but he (the leader of the rebellion) will

kill the easterners. Again he (the fourth king) will send out many troops, and they will come and slay the

westerners, and take up residence in their land.

And this will be the sign for you—when you see that at the beginning of one week there is rain, and

in the second (week) the loosing of the ‘arrows of hunger,’ and in the third a severe famine, and in the

fourth no hunger but (also) no satisfaction, and in the fifth there is great satiety. A star shall appear from

the east with a rod on top of it—this is the star of Israel, as Scripture says: ‘a star shall step forth from

Jacob, etc.’ (Num 24:17). If it shines, it is for the benefit of Israel. Then the Messiah of the lineage of

David shall emerge. 77

And this will be the sign for you—when you see that the eastern ïåøéâ in Damascus has fallen, the

kingdom of those in the East has fallen. 78 Then deliverance will sprout for Israel. The Messiah of the

lineage of David will come, and they (sic!) will go up to Jerusalem and rejoice over her, as Scripture says:

‘the lowly will take possession of the land and delight in an abundance of peace’ (Ps 37:11). May God in

His mercy send to us the deliverer quickly in our era, amen!

Material (ed. Averil Cameron and Lawrence I. Conrad; Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam 1;
Princeton: Darwin Press, 1992), 208.
77
See the notes to this section in Prayer.
78
Note the remarks above regarding this particular sign.

44