Menahem ben Ammiel

Last updated

Menahem ben Ammiel, or ben Amiel, is a character in apocalyptic Jewish texts, the future Messiah ben David of the Sefer Zerubbabel. He fights against Armilus, the Jewish apocalyptic counterpart of the Christian Book of Revelation's Antichrist. [1]

He was born during the reign of king David. In some copies of the text, he is born on the day the First Temple is destroyed. [2] A wind carried him to the city of Nineveh (representing Rome), where he remains waiting for the end days. He can be found at the “house of filth” near the market where he is imprisoned. He is presented as having a despicable, broken down image and to be in pain. His appearance is an illusion. [3]

Some have suggested that Amiel is a cipher for Hezekiah and that he is the same as Menahem ben Hezekiah. [4]

Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer, like the Sefer Zerubbabel, refers to Menahem ben Ammiel. He is referred to as the son of Joseph. In others editions, the name Menahem son of Ammiel son of Joseph is omitted and the text simple refers to the son of David. According to the Zohar and the Sefer Zerubbabel, Menahem is the Messiah ben David. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rabbinic literature</span> Jewish literature attributed to rabbis

Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew term Sifrut Chazal. This more specific sense of "Rabbinic literature"—referring to the Talmudim, Midrash, and related writings, but hardly ever to later texts—is how the term is generally intended when used in contemporary academic writing. The terms mefareshim and parshanim (commentaries/commentators) almost always refer to later, post-Talmudic writers of rabbinic glosses on Biblical and Talmudic texts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nachmanides</span> 13th century Catalonian rabbi and scholar

Moses ben Nachman, commonly known as Nachmanides, and also referred to by the acronym Ramban and by the contemporary nickname Bonastruc ça Porta, was a leading medieval Jewish scholar, Catalan rabbi, philosopher, physician, kabbalist, and biblical commentator. He was raised, studied, and lived for most of his life in Girona, Catalonia. He is also considered to be an important figure in the re-establishment of the Jewish community in Jerusalem following its destruction by the Crusaders in 1099.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metatron</span> Angel in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic mythology

Metatron, or Matatron, is an angel in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam mentioned three times in the Talmud, in a few brief passages in the Aggadah, and in mystical Kabbalistic texts within Rabbinic literature. The figure forms one of the traces for the presence of dualist proclivities in the otherwise monotheistic visions of both the Tanakh and later Christian doctrine. In the Jewish kabbalistic tradition, he is sometimes portrayed as serving as the celestial scribe. The name Metatron is not mentioned in the Torah or the Bible, and how the name originated is a matter of debate. In Islamic tradition, he is also known as Mīṭaṭrūn, the angel of the veil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messiah in Judaism</span> Savior and liberator of the Jewish people

The Messiah in Judaism is a savior and liberator figure in Jewish eschatology who is believed to be the future redeemer of the Jews. The concept of messianism originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible a messiah is a king or High Priest of Israel traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil. However, messiahs were not exclusively Jewish, as the Hebrew Bible refers to Cyrus the Great, Achaemenid Emperor, as a messiah for his decree to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple.

Eleazar of Worms, or Eleazar ben Judah ben Kalonymus, also sometimes known today as Eleazar Rokeach from the title of his Book of the Perfumer —where the numerical value of "Perfumer" is equal to Eleazar, was a leading Talmudist and Kabbalist, and the last major member of the Hasidei Ashkenaz, a group of German Jewish pietists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Davidic line</span> Lineage of the Israelite king David

The Davidic line or House of David is the lineage of the Israelite king David. In Judaism it is based on texts from the Hebrew Bible and through the succeeding centuries based on later traditions. In Christianity, the New Testament follows the line through Mary and Joseph to Jesus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chayei Sarah</span> 5th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading

Chayei Sarah, Chaye Sarah, Ḥayye Sarah, or Ḥayyei Sara, is the fifth weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. It constitutes Genesis 23:1–25:18. The parashah tells the stories of Abraham's negotiations to purchase a burial place for his wife Sarah and his servant's mission to find a wife for Abraham's son Isaac.

Tobiah ben Eliezer was a Talmudist and poet of the 11th century, author of Lekach Tov or Pesikta Zutarta, a midrashic commentary on the Pentateuch and the Five Megillot.

Armilus is an anti-messiah figure in medieval Jewish eschatology who will conquer the whole Earth, centralizing in Jerusalem and persecuting the Jewish believers until his final defeat at the hands of the Jewish Messiah. His believed destruction symbolizes the ultimate victory of the Jewish Messiah in the Messianic Age.

In Jewish eschatology Mashiach ben Yoseph or Messiah ben Joseph, also known as Mashiach bar/ben Ephraim, is a Jewish messiah from the tribe of Ephraim and a descendant of Joseph. The figure's origins are much debated. Some regard it as a rabbinic invention, but others defend the view that its origins are in the Torah.

<i>Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer</i> Aggadic-midrashic work

Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer is an aggadic-midrashic work on the Torah containing exegesis and retellings of biblical stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smaller midrashim</span>

A number of midrashim exist which are smaller in size, and generally later in date, than those dealt with in the articles Midrash Haggadah and Midrash Halakah. Despite their late date, some of these works preserve material from the Apocrypha and Philo of Alexandria. These small works, were in turn used by later larger works, such as Sefer haYashar (midrash). Important editors and researchers of this material include Abraham ben Elijah of Vilna, Adolf Jellinek, and Solomon Aaron Wertheimer.

Isaac Satanow was a Polish-Jewish maskil, scholar, and poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apocalypse of Zerubbabel</span> Medieval Hebrew apocalypse

Sefer Zerubavel, also called the Book of Zerubbabel or the Apocalypse of Zerubbabel, is a medieval Hebrew apocalypse written at the beginning of the 7th century CE in the style of biblical visions placed into the mouth of Zerubbabel, the last descendant of the Davidic line to take a prominent part in Israel's history, who laid the foundation of the Second Temple in the 6th century BCE. The enigmatic postexilic biblical leader receives a revelatory vision outlining personalities and events associated with the restoration of Israel, the End of Days, and the establishment of the Third Temple.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem</span> Part of the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628

The Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem was a significant event in the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, having taken place in early 614. Amidst the conflict, Sasanian king Khosrow II had appointed Shahrbaraz, his spahbod, to lead an offensive into the Diocese of the East of the Byzantine Empire. Under Shahrbaraz, the Sasanian army had secured victories at Antioch as well as at Caesarea Maritima, the administrative capital of Palaestina Prima. By this time, the grand inner harbour had silted up and was useless, but the city continued to be an important maritime hub after Byzantine emperor Anastasius I Dicorus ordered the reconstruction of the outer harbour. Successfully capturing the city and the harbour had given the Sasanian Empire strategic access to the Mediterranean Sea. The Sasanians' advance was accompanied by the outbreak of a Jewish revolt against Heraclius; the Sasanian army was joined by Nehemiah ben Hushiel and Benjamin of Tiberias, who enlisted and armed Jews from across Galilee, including the cities of Tiberias and Nazareth. In total, between 20,000 and 26,000 Jewish rebels took part in the Sasanian assault on Jerusalem. By mid-614, the Jews and the Sasanians had captured the city, but sources vary on whether this occurred without resistance or after a siege and breaching of the wall with artillery.

Menahem or Menachem was a Jewish king.

Nehemiah ben Hushiel was described as a leader of the Jewish revolt against Heraclius. Nehemiah ben Hushiel appears in the 7th century Jewish book Sefer Zerubbabel where he represents the Messiah ben Joseph.

Menahem ben Judah lived around the time of the First Jewish-Roman War and is mentioned by Josephus. He was the leader of a faction called the Sicarii who carried out assassinations of Romans and collaborators in the Holy Land.

In the Babylonian Talmud, Menahem ben Hezekiah was a quasi-messianic Jewish teacher born on the day the Second Temple was destroyed. He may be the same as Menahem ben Judah; also see Menahem ben Ammiel.

Hephzibah or Hepzibah is a figure in the Apocalypse of Zerubbabel, who is also mentioned in the Zohar. She was the wife of Nathan, and the mother of Menahem ben Ammiel, a putative messiah.

References

  1. Joseph Dan, chapter in Toward the millennium: messianic expectations from the Bible to Waco ed. Peter Schäfer, Mark R. Cohen p84
  2. John C. Reeves (2005). Trajectories in Near Eastern Apocalyptic: A Postrabbinic Jewish Apocalypse Reader. Society of Biblical Literature Atlanta. p. 55. ISBN   9781589831025 . Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  3. "Sefer Zerubbabel". Translated by John C. Reeves. University of North Carolina at Charlotte. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
  4. John C. Reeves (2005). Trajectories in Near Eastern Apocalyptic: A Postrabbinic Jewish Apocalypse Reader. Society of Biblical Literature Atlanta. p. 53. ISBN   9781589831025 . Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  5. Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, Translated by Gerald Friedlander (1916). Pirḳê de Rabbi Eliezer. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner. p.  131 . Retrieved 26 May 2014. Ammiel.