CHAPTER 10

It already has been set forth that when we mention one of the equivocal terms in this Treatise, it is not our purpose to cite all the senses in which that particular term is used, for this is not a treatise on language. Of those senses we cite only such as we require for our purpose and no others. Of this sort are the terms to descend [yarod] and to ascend [ʿaloh].

The two terms descending and ascending have been given in the Hebrew language the respective meaning of descent and ascent.¹ Accordingly when a body moves from a certain place to a lower place, it is said to descend; and when it moves from a certain place to a higher place than the place in which it was, it is said to ascend. Subsequently these two terms were used figuratively to denote sublimity and greatness; so that when an individual’s rank was lowered, he was said to have descended; when, on the other hand, his rank became higher in respect of sublimity, he was said to have ascended. Thus God, may He be exalted, says: The stranger that is in the midst of thee shall ascend above thee higher and higher, and thou shalt descend, and so on.2 The text also says: The Lord thy God will set thee in ascendancy above all the nations of the earth.³ And it says: And the Lord magnified Solomon in ascendancy.⁴ You know also how often the Sages use the expression: With regard to what is holy, men may be made to ascend, but not to descend.⁵ Similarly the term [to descend] is also used to denote a lower state of speculation; when a man directs his thought toward a very mean object, he is said to have descended; and similarly when he directs his thought toward an exalted and sublime object, he is said to have ascended. Now we, the community of men,⁶ are, in regard to place as well as degree of existence, in a most lowly position if we are compared to the all-encompassing heavenly sphere;⁷ whereas He, may He be exalted, [20a] is in respect of true existence, sublimity, and greatness in the very highest position—an elevation that is not a spatial one. And as He, may He be exalted, wished—as He did—to let some of us have knowledge deriving from Him and an overflow of prophetic inspiration, the alighting of the prophetic inspiration upon the prophet or the coming-down of the Indwelling8 to a certain place was termed descent; whereas the removal of this prophetic state from a particular individual or the cessation of the Indwelling in a place was termed ascent. In every case in which you find the terms descent and ascent applied to the Creator, may He be exalted, this last meaning is intended. Another similar case is that of a calamity befalling a people or a terrestrial zone in accordance with His pre-eternal will. With regard to this the prophetic books begin by stating, before describing the affliction, that He visited the action of these people and after that made their punishment come down upon them. This notion too is expressed by means of the term descent; the reason being that man is too insignificant to have his actions visited and to be punished for them, were it not for the pre-eternal will. This has been made clear in the books of prophecy, where it is said: What is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that Thou shouldst visit him, and so on.9 For this verse refers to this notion. It is for this reason that this is called descent. Thus Scripture says: Come, let us descend, and there confound their language;¹⁰ And the Lord descended to see;¹¹ I will descend now and see.¹² In all these verses the notion is that of punishment befalling people of low condition. As for the first meaning—I mean that which refers to prophetic inspiration and to ennobling—it is frequent. Thus: And I will descend and speak with thee;¹³ And the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai;¹⁴ The Lord will descend in the sight of all the people;¹⁵ And God ascended from him;¹⁶ And God ascended from Abraham.¹⁷ When, on the other hand, Scripture says, And Moses ascended to God,¹⁸ the third meaning¹⁹ of the term [to ascend] is meant; this, in addition to the fact that [Moses] ascended to the top of the mountain upon which the created light had descended. The verse does not mean that God, may He be exalted, [20b] has a place up to which one may ascend or from which one may descend; He is exalted very high above the imaginings of the ignorant.