Sepher Ha-Razim

The Sepher Ha-Razim is a Kabbalistic text supposedly given to Noah by the angel Raziel. Note that this is a different book than the Sefer Raziel HaMalach, which was given to Adam by the same angel. To say that it is an unorthodox text is an understatement; while traditional Jewish laws of purity are part of the cosmogony, for instance, there are "praxeis which demand we eat cakes made from blood and flour" (Morgan 9). It is supposedly a sourcebook for Jewish magic, calling upon angels rather than Yahweh to perform supernatural feats. The text itself was once considered to be part of "orthodox" Judaism under the influence of Hellenism, but this text, along with other works of Kabbalah, are considered to be unorthodox at best and heretical at worst in modern Judaism.

Discovery

The text was rediscovered in the 20th century by Mordecai Margalioth, a Jewish scholar visiting Oxford in 1963, using fragments found in the Cairo Geniza. He hypothesised that several fragments of Jewish magical literature shared a common source and was certain that he could reconstruct this common source. He achieved this in 1966 when he published "Sepher Ha-Razim" in 1966. The first English translation of the book was undertaken by Michael A. Morgan in 1983; the book is now in print, as of summer 2007.

Dating

Margalioth places the date of the original text to the early fourth or late third century CE. This date is almost universally accepted; a notable exception is Ithamar Gruenwald who dates the text to the sixth or seventh century CE. Nonetheless, it is clear that this text predates other Kabbalistic texts, including the Zohar (thirteenth century CE), the Bahir (thirteenth century CE as well), and possibly the Sefer Yetzirah (fourth century CE). There are certain textual clues that point toward this early date, specifically the reference to "the Roman indications in 1:27-28 [which] gives a clear "terminus a quo" of 297 CE" (Morgan 8).

Structure and Content

The book is split into seven sections, not including a preface which details the book's reception and transmission. Each of the seven sections contains a listing of angels and instructions to perform one or more magical rite. There is an uneasy tension between the orthodox cosmogony of the book and the unorthodox praxeis embodied in these magical rites; the book has obviously been edited by a rabbinical scribe, but the "popular religion" contained in the book is more or less intact. Some of the rituals purport to facilitate healing, prophecy, an attack upon one's enemy, and gaining good fortune.

Sources

Margalioth, Mordecai. "Sepher Ha-Razim." Jerusalem: Yediot Achronot, 1966.

Morgan, Michael A. "Sepher Ha-Razim: The Book of Mysteries." Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1983. The majority of the information for this article is from this book.