My research compares the typology of Rabbi Yišmaʿeʾl’s heavenly journey in Hekhalot Rabbati (ḥavurah account) with the ascent through the heavens described in the Revelation of Paul (NH V,2). This comparative analysis does not rely on facile notions of “influence” or “dependence,” but compares Hekhalot Rabbati with a text from an apocalyptic context, which scholars have labeled as “gnostic.” Accordingly, it directly addresses through detailed analysis the ubiquitous, but general claim in scholarship that Hekhalot texts drew on “Gnosticism”. Through close exegetical readings of both texts, my thesis shows that the imagery of Hekhalot Rabbati in fact employs features, themes, and narrative frames which align quite closely with ascent apocalypses in ostensibly “gnostic” literature. Of Course, there are also divergences between these two traditions. For instance, the different narrative strategies that support the respective heavenly ascent schema underscore the conceptual ruptures between the heavenly journey of the yored merkavah and the ascent of Paul to the plèroma. Nevertheless, while the textual parallels stressed in my analyses do not allow us to draw a direct genealogical link between the Hekhalot texts and the Nag Hammadi materials, these parallels provide insights for tracing the trajectories of the sources which could have inspired the authors behind the Hekhalot. In so doing, my thesis contributes to the difficult task of describing the cultural context in which Hekhalot literature took shape. At the same time, this thesis also serves as a reminder that some of the narrative motifs employed in apocalyptical and “gnostic” texts had a reception history that extended beyond the world of Late Antiquity.

Il presente studio si costituisce come un primo tentativo di serrata indagine filologica tra un testo di natura apocalittica quale l’Apocalisse di Paolo (NH V,2) ‒ pervenutoci all'interno del fondo copto, tradizionalmente etichettato come "gnostico", di Nag Hammadi ‒ e un’opera in lingua ebraica, di carattere magico-mistico, del periodo post-talmudico (VII-IX e.v.) quale Hekhalot Rabbati. Attraverso le mie analisi filologiche, fornisco qui il pretesto per tracciare la traiettoria di alcune tematiche che potrebbero avere ispirato le persone responsabili della redazione degli Hekhalot. La mia ricerca, infatti, attesta solidamente come alcuni motivi letterari tipicamente impiegati nell’apocalittica giudaico-cristiana e nella tradizione gnostica hanno avuto una ricezione anche alla fine del tardoantico. Con ciò, questo lavoro contribuisce al difficile compito di descrivere il contesto culturale in cui la letteratura degli Hekhalot ha preso forma.

Yored La-Merkavah, Hekhalot Rabbati (198-268) e Apocalisse di Paolo (NH V,2), L'ascesa Celeste di Rabbi Ishmael alla Luce di un Testo Apocalittico del Fondo di Nag Hammadi.

SCARLASSARA, MICHELE
2021/2022

Abstract

My research compares the typology of Rabbi Yišmaʿeʾl’s heavenly journey in Hekhalot Rabbati (ḥavurah account) with the ascent through the heavens described in the Revelation of Paul (NH V,2). This comparative analysis does not rely on facile notions of “influence” or “dependence,” but compares Hekhalot Rabbati with a text from an apocalyptic context, which scholars have labeled as “gnostic.” Accordingly, it directly addresses through detailed analysis the ubiquitous, but general claim in scholarship that Hekhalot texts drew on “Gnosticism”. Through close exegetical readings of both texts, my thesis shows that the imagery of Hekhalot Rabbati in fact employs features, themes, and narrative frames which align quite closely with ascent apocalypses in ostensibly “gnostic” literature. Of Course, there are also divergences between these two traditions. For instance, the different narrative strategies that support the respective heavenly ascent schema underscore the conceptual ruptures between the heavenly journey of the yored merkavah and the ascent of Paul to the plèroma. Nevertheless, while the textual parallels stressed in my analyses do not allow us to draw a direct genealogical link between the Hekhalot texts and the Nag Hammadi materials, these parallels provide insights for tracing the trajectories of the sources which could have inspired the authors behind the Hekhalot. In so doing, my thesis contributes to the difficult task of describing the cultural context in which Hekhalot literature took shape. At the same time, this thesis also serves as a reminder that some of the narrative motifs employed in apocalyptical and “gnostic” texts had a reception history that extended beyond the world of Late Antiquity.
2021
Yored La-Merkavah, Hekhalot Rabbati (198-268) and The Revelation of Paul (NH V,2), the Heavenly Ascent of Rabbi Ishmael in light of an apocalyptic text from Nag Hammadi.
Il presente studio si costituisce come un primo tentativo di serrata indagine filologica tra un testo di natura apocalittica quale l’Apocalisse di Paolo (NH V,2) ‒ pervenutoci all'interno del fondo copto, tradizionalmente etichettato come "gnostico", di Nag Hammadi ‒ e un’opera in lingua ebraica, di carattere magico-mistico, del periodo post-talmudico (VII-IX e.v.) quale Hekhalot Rabbati. Attraverso le mie analisi filologiche, fornisco qui il pretesto per tracciare la traiettoria di alcune tematiche che potrebbero avere ispirato le persone responsabili della redazione degli Hekhalot. La mia ricerca, infatti, attesta solidamente come alcuni motivi letterari tipicamente impiegati nell’apocalittica giudaico-cristiana e nella tradizione gnostica hanno avuto una ricezione anche alla fine del tardoantico. Con ciò, questo lavoro contribuisce al difficile compito di descrivere il contesto culturale in cui la letteratura degli Hekhalot ha preso forma.
misticismo
apocalittica
Hekhalot literature
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12608/11226