Zohar and Iamblichus

Authors

  • Yehuda Liebes

Keywords:

Zohar, Cabbala, Iamblichus, Hermeticism, Neo-Platonism, magic, idolatry, Moshe Idel

Abstract

The Zohar, the Cabbalistic ‘Bible’, has a special theory concerning magic. Magic, which for the Zohar is the essence of idolatry, is depicted there as identical in its form with Cabbalistic mystical theurgy, but directed not towards God but towards evil demons. This theory has been labeled in research Hermetic and Neo-Platonic, but only in general terms. This article makes a further step and finds a parallelism between a paragraph in the Zohar and a paragraph in On the Mysteries of Iamblichus, the Neo-Platonic philosopher. The two paragraphs expound the above theory in similar terms, and also cite as their source a similar authority, namely eastern sages or Chaldaean prophets. This parallelism may establish a literary connection between the Zohar and Iamblichus, who may be related also in other respects.

Author Biography

Yehuda Liebes

Professor at The Gershom Scholem Chair in Kabbalah, Department of Jewish Thought, Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies, Faculty of Humanities, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, ISRAEL. Author of the books: Sections of the Zohar’s Lexicon (1976), The Sin of Elisha’, the Four who Entered Paradise, and the Nature of Talmudic Mysticism (1990), The Secret of Sabbatean Faith, (1995, 2007), Studies in the Zohar (1993), Studies in Jewish Myth and Jewish Messianism (1993), Ars Poetica in Sefer Yetsira (2000, 2001).

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Published

2007-12-30

Issue

Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies, vol. 6, no. 18, Winter 2007

Section

Studies & Articles