The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated (...

[The original version of this article appeared as an appendix to the fourth edition of A Guide to Kabbalistic Books in English: 1977-1979, by Don Karr (Ithaca: 1982), pp. 37-40; it was reprinted in slightly expanded form in Collected Articles on the Kabbalah, volume 1, by D. Karr (Ithaca: KoM #5, 1985), pages 17-20, which is presented below as APPENDIX 2.] MERKABAH ( = CHARIOT) MYSTICISM developed out of speculation on and expansion of the visions of Ezekiel (chapters 1, 8, and 10) and, to a lesser extent, Isaiah (chapter 6) and Daniel (chapter 2). This strain of mysticism meanders through the intertestamental pseudepigrapha* and even touches corners of gnostic and Qumran texts.** Merkabah material and references can be found in shreds, often more provocative than telling, in the Talmud and other rabbinic writings. † However, the major concentrated expression of merkabah mysticism is that cluster of writings which has come to be called the hekhalot ( = HEAVENLY HALLS) literature, which is the focus of this paper