Hekhalot Literature in Translation: Major Texts of Merkavah Mysticism

By James Davila

The Hekhalot literature is a motley collection of textually fluid and often textually corrupt documents in Hebrew and Aramaic which deal with mystical themes pertaining especially to God's throne-chariot (the Merkavah). They were composed between late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, with roots in earlier traditions and a long and complex subsequent history of transmission.

This volume presents English translations of eclectic critical texts, with a full apparatus of variants, of most of the major Hekhalot documents: Hekhalot Rabbati; Sar Torah; Hekhalot Zutarti; Ma'aseh Merkavah; Merkavah Rabba; briefer macroforms: The Chapter of R. Nehuniah ben HaQanah, The Great Seal-Fearsome Crown, Sar Panim, The Ascent of Elijah ben Avuyah, and The Youth; and the Hekhalot fragments from the Cairo Geniza.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9004252150
• ISBN13: 9789004252158
• Release Date: June 2013
• Publisher: Brill
• Length: 452 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.4"