3 Enoch

Odeberg1928 source English page 327

CH. XXXv] CELESTIAL QEDUSHSHA 11g winds, thousand thousands into burning fires, thousand thousands into flames, thousand thousands into sparks, thousand thousands into chashmals of light*; until they take upon themselves the yoke of the kingdom of heaven, the high and lifted up, of the Creator >of them all> with fear, dread, awe and trembling, with commotion, anguish, terror and trepidation. ‘Then they are changed again into their former shape to have the fear of their King before them alway, as they have set their hearts on saying *the Song® continually, as it is written (Is. vi. 3): ‘‘And one cried unto another and said (Holy, Holy, Holy, 0 4-4 12 corr. (mistaking the abbreviation 6ת8פט0ם+--' אאמ"נ'‎ thousands 0 them are made into—for: saying Amen) 5-5 ins. with 2. A: lacuna into various forms from their original state of angels with bodily form. This is stated Gen. R. xxi. 13, with reference to Ps, civ. 4: “‘‘(who maketh his angels spirits), his ministers a flaming fire’, which changes, for they change, appearing at one time as males, at another as females, now as winds (or, spirits), now as angels’”’. This dictum (attributed to Rab?) is quoted and commented upon by Maimonides in his More Nébukim, vol. 1, ch. xlix. The expression ‘are made into males. ..made into females’ is somewhat suspect in its present connection, where the changing of the angels into all sorts of fiery, lifeless substances, is apparently conceived of as a punishment ad premonitum, till they acquiesce in performing their duty, the performance of the Qédushsha. until they take upon themselves the yoke of the kingdom of heaven, the high and lifted up, of the Creator. By the recitation of the Qédushsha, the angels take upon themselves the yoke of heaven. In the Qédushsha they recognize the Holy One, blessed be He, as the king of the heavens—cf. the response in the Qédushsha of the Liturgy: ‘‘H’ shall reign for ever etc.” Ps. cxlvi. 10. So the Israelites every day, when they recite the ‘ Shema‘’ take upon themselves the yoke of the kingdom of heaven, M. Ber. ii. 2, and when praying in general, TB. Ber. סז‎ ₪. The Qédushsha is in itself the religious duty of the song-uttering angels. In the performance of the Qédushsha they put themselves as a harmonious unity in the heavenly kingdom, hence they are changed again into their former shape, described in vs. 2 as individual, manifested angelic beings, in which existence they remain only as long as they continue in the performance of the duty that is their only raison 0/6170. Cf. chh. xl. 3, xlvii. 1 f. On the meaning of the expression ‘take upon oneself the yoke of the kingdom of heaven’ see article ‘““Kingdom of heaven” in JE and Abelson, Jewish Mysticism, p. 84.