1 AND 2 MACCABEES. Apocryphal works found in the Septuagint and Vulgate but not in the Hebrew Bible. 1 Maccabees appears to have been composed near the end of the second or beginning of the first century BCE. Jerome and Origen claim that the book was originally composed in Hebrew. It consists of 16 chapters recounting the Maccabean revolt against the Hellenistic Seleucid kings of Syria. The focus is on Mattathias and his five sons. According to the account, Mattathias resisted and killed the Seleucid officer who came to impose the prohibition on study of the Torah, keeping the Sabbath, circumcision, and the temple service. Mattathias died around 166 BCE and his sons, headed by Judas, led an armed revolt against the Seleucid military forces and the Hellenizing Jews. Judas and his forces were eventually defeated in 160 BCE when fighting against a much larger force sent by King Demetrius. Judas the Maccabean is portrayed as a hero or savior figure infused with divine inspiration who establishes the rule of his house according to God’s will.
2 Maccabees is a composite text consisting of a short introduction, two letters, and an excerpt from the history of Jason of Cyrene, and a conclusion. The letters are thought to have been composed originally in Aramaic or Hebrew and are dated to the last quarter of the second century CE, and the history of Jason of Cyrene was composed in Greek sometime after 160 CE. The first letter (1:1–9) is a brief and general document. The second letter (1:10–2:18) is longer and contains an account of the hiding of the sacred fire, Jeremiah’s hiding of the temple vessels, and the contents of Nehemiah’s library. The five books that made up the history of Jason of Cyrene are condensed into chapters 3–15 and provide a general overview of the events surrounding the Maccabean Revolt.
3 MACCABEES. Text describing events that occurred roughly 50 years before the Maccabean period and the events recounted in 1 and 2 Maccabees. The text is not included in the Catholic Bible or the Apocrypha since it was not included in the Vulgate, but it is found in other Greek Bibles and in the Syriac Peshitta. There are many Greek manuscripts, Syriac recensions, and an Armenian version.
3 Maccabees is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1 recounts Ptolemy IV’s visit to Jerusalem, his insistence that he enter the temple, and the protestation of the Jews. Chapter 2 describes the prayer of Simeon the high priest and God’s punishment of Ptolemy with paralysis. Chapters 3–4 tell how Ptolemy persecuted the Jews of Alexandria, a plan that is frustrated in chapter 5. Chapter 6 contains the prayer of Eliezer, Ptolemy’s change of mind, and the Jewish celebration for their deliverance. Chapter 7 contains a letter written by Ptolemy ordering that the Jews not be persecuted, and an account of the return of the Jews to their homes.
4 MACCABEES. An extended account and discourse upon the virtue of the martyrdoms of Eliezer, the mother, and her seven sons. The text is included in several manuscripts of the Greek Bible and the works of Josephus. It is not found in the Vulgate and so is not included in the Catholic Bible and the Apocrypha, but it does appear in the Peshitta.
4 Maccabees is divided into 18 chapters. Chapters 1–3 introduce the material with arguments concerning the virtues of reason and its compatibility with the Law. Chapter 4 provides an account of the actions of Apollonius and Antiochus against the Jews and the temple in Jerusalem. Chapters 5–7 recount the martyrdom of Eliezer, chapters 8–13 the martyrdom of the seven sons, and chapters 14–16 the martyrdom of the mother. Chapters 17–18 contain additional exhortations on the example of martyrdom and perseverance of faith, citing examples from other stories of the prophets such as the murder of Abel, sacrifice of Isaac, imprisonment of Joseph, and Daniel’s incarceration in the lions’ den.
The motif of martyrdom is a significant part of prophethood and sainthood in other contexts. Persecution and martyrdom also play an important role in the stories of the Prophet of Ya-Sin (see also PEOPLE OF YA-SIN), Isaiah, John the Baptist and his father Zechariah, and Jesus.
MADA’IN SALIH. City identified as the place where the prophet Salih was sent to the people of Thamud. The Quran refers to the houses that the people of Thamud had hewn out of rock (Q 7:74, 26:149, 89:9), which Muslim exegetes associate with the Nabataean tombs and other monuments in the vicinity of the site. Muslim sources refer to the city as al-Hijr and understand this as related to the Arabic root meaning “forbidden” or “sacred” [h-j-r]. There are reports that the prophet Muhammad stopped at al-Hijr on his way to Tabuk and told his followers never to enter the city or drink from its water. It is understood that this prohibition is attached to God’s punishment of the people of Thamud, and that the city is left as a reminder of their disobedience. The site of Mada’in Salih is rich in inscriptions in Arabic, Aramaic, Thamudic, Nabataean, Minaean, Lihyanite, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin attesting to its activity on the trade route.
MAGIC. Performative activity, often ritualistic in nature or context, involving the summoning or manipulation of supernatural forces or powers in order to influence people, events, and nature. These performative activities typically combine two components: a spoken (sometimes written) spell and a physical act of praxis (e.g., substitution, molding figurines, burning, burying, cutting, etc.). Often they require the practitioner to enter a state of ritual purity or other specific form of conditioning prior to performing the act.
The purposes of magic are numerous and varied and include obtaining love, power, and wealth; the procurement of fertility (both human and agricultural); the control of atmospheric phenomena; and the annihilation of one’s enemies. Though it was formerly seen as a distinct conceptual category from that of religion, contemporary scholars have come to recognize the central and legitimate place of magic in ancient (and many modern) religious systems, and the role of societal mechanisms in determining views on magic. Many scholars see the label “magic” as determined entirely by social construct, and thus informed only by perspective. Often the word magic is employed in a pejorative sense to delegitimate another culture’s religion; one culture’s gods or demiurges often become another culture’s demons, and thus, one culture’s priests often become another’s magicians (see also DEMON). The problematic aspects of the term magic have led some scholars to see it as devoid of any heuristic value, and to avoid it altogether.
An examination of the term as it is used in English translations of the Bible demonstrates well the problematic nature of the term. The Hebrew words often translated as magician [Heb. mekashef] (Deut 18:10) and [Heb. hartummim] (Exod 8:3) are foreign in origin (the first is Mesopotamian and the second Egyptian). They are treated with ridicule and contempt, though the same terms in Mesopotamia and Egypt denote legitimate religious practitioners, often supported by the central government and religious establishment. Similar remarks could be made with respect to other terms often associated with performative praxis. Witches, exorcists, necromancers, soothsayers, and wizards, as well as foreign prophets, each fall into this category. In biblical narratives, such figures often are pitted against Yahweh or his mantic practitioners, the Israelite prophets, and are discredited by them. Nevertheless, some would argue that there is little, other than the sanction of Yahweh and his worshippers, to differentiate some of the prophetic acts from those of their contemporary “magicians” and “diviners” (see also DIVINATION).
Among the stories of the prophets are numerous accounts of “magical” acts or comparisons of “magicians” and prophets. The Quran credits the angels Harut and Marut with bringing magical knowledge to the people of Babylon (Q 2:102). Seth, Shem, Abraham, and Daniel are all associated with astrology. Enoch and Idris are identified with Hermes Trismegistos and the origins of alchemy. Moses competes with Jannes and Jambres, the magicians of Egypt, and parts the Reed Sea (Exod 14:21) with a rod of power (see also ROD OF MOSES). There is an extant text entitled the Sword of Moses, a book of spells in Hebrew and Aramaic, and this is identified with the “sword of Moses” mentioned in Deut 33:29. The Testament of Solomon states that Solomon had a special ring that allowed him to bind all demons into his service for the building of Jerusalem. In the Bible, Elijah controls the weather (1 Kgs 17:1), Elisha makes an axhead float on water (2 Kgs 6:4–6), and both Elijah and Elisha resurrect dead children (1 Kgs 17:17–23; 2 Kgs 4:34–35). Daniel is compared to the magicians of Babylonia and is able to read secret writing on the wall. In fact, Dan 4:6 refers to him as “chief magician.” Jesus, too, is closely associated with magic as evidenced by the accusations of this by some pagan polemicists in late antiquity.
The Quran mentions magic or sorcery [Ar. sihr, sihir] frequently as a common accusation made against prophets and their revelations. The accusation is made specifically against Abraham (Q 43:30), Moses and Aaron (Q 10:76, 27:13, 28:36), Jesus (Q 5:110, 61:6), and the prophet Muhammad (Q 74:24). The pharaoh accuses Moses of teaching magic to the Egyptians (Q 26:49), but the term also denotes the deception practiced by the Egyptian pharaoh in the story of Moses (Q 10:81). The label also is applied generally against prophets and their signs (Q 21:3, 34:43, 37:10, 46:7), their revealed books (Q 6:7), and God (Q 11:7, 52:15, 54:2). It seems to be a reality in other passages (Q 7:116), though placed in contrast to the “signs” of God. (See also ALCHEMY; ASTRONOMY AND ASTROLOGY; NECROMANCY; TERAPHIM).
MAGOG. Nation described by the prophet Ezekiel (Ezek 38:2, 38:14–22, 39:6), led by a king named Gog (also called the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal), that comes to attack Israel. It is not clear in the Ezekiel passage whether this battle refers to the eschaton, but since the name Gog [Akk. gagu] appears in Assyrian records as a king of a mountain tribe north of Assyria, an eschatological reading seems unlikely. In Gen 10:2, Magog also appears in the genealogy of Japheth, as the grandson of Noah (see also 1 Chr 1:5). Nevertheless, talmudic tradition reads Ezekiel’s prophecy of the wars against Gog and Magog as a reference to the eschaton (TB Shabbath 118a), and understands Psalm 2 as a reference to the rebellion of Gog and Magog against God and the Messiah. The Talmud also tells the story of a man’s discovery of a text written in Hebrew and Aramaic that places the war against Gog between God’s battle against great sea monsters and the rule of the Messiah (TB Sanhedrin 97b). The New Testament also cites Gog and Magog in reference to the eschatological battle between God and the great dragon, Satan (Rev 20:8). The Quran describes Dhu al-Qarnayn’s building of a wall to hold back Gog and Magog until they are set loose upon the earth at the end of time (Q 18:93–101).
MAHDI. Arabic term referring to the “guide” or “savior” who will come to earth at the end of time and usher in an era of peace and justice. There are numerous traditions, many conflicting, in both Sunni and Shi‘i sources regarding the messianic figures who are to appear on earth at the end of time.
Muslim sources list and describe the signs of the coming of the Mahdi. They state that before the Mahdi comes the world will be filled with injustice and fighting, and that the Quran and knowledge of Islam will have all but disappeared. The Dajjal (Antichrist) will appear at the head of the armies of Gog and Magog who will break forth from the gate built against them by Dhu al-Qarnayn. The Mahdi is described as reviving the religion of the prophet Muhammad just as the prophet Muhammad revived the religion of Abraham. He will bring a new revelation and a new law, and will challenge those who interpret the Quran against him. Some sources report that the Mahdi will bring knowledge to supplement, but not necessarily abrogate, the knowledge revealed by the previous prophets.
Many Shi‘i sources identify the Mahdi with one of the imams. The Imami or “Twelver” Shi‘ah identify the Mahdi with the occluded Twelfth Imam, and the early Ismaili Shi‘ah await the return of the Seventh Imam. Other figures are said to return with the Mahdi and are sometimes identified with him, including the Third Imam Husayn, who will return with the followers who were killed with him at Karbala; Jesus; earlier prophets and imams; and martyred followers of the prophet Muhammad.
MAIMONIDES. See RAMBAM.
MAJOR PROPHETS. Term referring to the prophetic books Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, so labeled because of their large size relative to those found in the Minor Prophets.
MALACHI. Last book of the minor prophets. The book tells little about its author. The title of the book literally means “my messenger,” suggesting that it is not a personal name, but rather an appellation, perhaps derived from Mal 3:1. The date of the book is also uncertain, though most scholars place it in the mid-fifth century BCE after the restoration of the temple. Much of Malachi is taken up with cultic matters. Malachi indicts the priests for offering blemished sacrificial animals (Mal 1:13), allowing the worship of a foreign goddess as a wife of Yahweh (Mal 2:11), and neglecting tithes (Mal 3:10), and exhorts the people to obey Mosaic Law (Mal 4:4). The book ends by predicting the return of Elijah just before the Day of Yahweh arrives (Mal 3:23).
MANDAEANS. A group of people whose religious affiliation seems to have originated in late antiquity. The Mandaic term mandayye means “gnostics,” and the group designates itself as “observants” [Mand. nasorayye]. It is possible that the Mandaeans are the “Sabians” referred to in the Quran as protected peoples along with Jews and Christians, based on the notion that the term refers to their practice of washing or baptism, which is central in Mandaean ritual.
Mandaean literature is found mostly in Mandaic, an eastern Aramaic dialect. There are six main bodies of texts considered authoritative by Mandaeans. The most significant is the Ginza or “Treasure,” divided into the Right Ginza (18 treatises) and the Left Ginza (hymns of soul’s ascent). Second is the Book of John, also called the Book of Kings, which consists of 37 mythological treatises centered around the epiphany of the heavenly man in Jerusalem. Third is the Qolasta or “Collection” of canonical hymns and prayers used for baptism, the mass of the soul, and ritual meals. Fourth are the Secret Scrolls, cultic texts accessible only to the priests describing the rite of marriage, ordination, the baptism of Abel, the Thousand and Twelve Questions, and commentaries on funeral rites. Fifth are the Diwans or “Collections” of texts, which include the Abatur and the Book of the Zodiac. Sixth are miscellaneous incantations and theurgic texts that are composed in Mandaic and attributed to the Mandaeans such as incantation bowls and amulets.
MANI (216–277 CE). Eponymous founder of Manichaeism, Mani lived in third-century CE Iraq and Iran under the Sasanians. Manichaeans were persecuted in the Sasanian and Roman empires, though the religion spread and was successful in Central Asia, especially among the Uighir Turks. Later Christian and Muslim texts often accuse religious opponents of being Manichaeans and characterize their religion in terms not entirely consistent with the picture provided by the Manichaeans themselves.
Mani is said to have composed a series of treatises in Aramaic and in Middle Persian. These include the Shahpuhr Book addressed to the Sasanian Shahpuhr I (r. 240–272 CE), the Living Gospel, the Treasure of Life, the Treatise, the Book of Secrets, and the Book of Giants, the latter of which relates to the texts associated with the Enoch traditions (see also 1 ENOCH). Mani also produced a series of letters. Not all of these texts are extant, and many are attested only in Parthian, Middle Persian, Coptic, Soghdian, or Uighir, or are cited by non-Manichaean sources in Greek, Latin, Arabic, Persian, and Chinese.
Mani is portrayed as both a prophet and a savior figure. He is associated closely with both Jesus and the Buddha, and also with the transformed Enoch in some contexts. Mani is described as being the last in a line of prophets who, beginning with Adam, were the messengers of God or the Holy Spirit. Mentioned by name in this prophetic line are antediluvian figures such as Adam, Seth, Shem, Enosh, Enoch, and other major prophet figures such as Zarathustra, Jesus, and the Buddha. Mani is called the “Seal of the Prophets,” a term also applied to the prophet Muhammad in the Quran, characterizing him as the culmination and last of the prophets.
MANICHAEAN HYMNS. Collections of hymns apparently recited in ritual contexts by different Manichaean groups. Many of the extant Parthian and Middle Persian Manichaean texts are hymns of this type. Among the Parthian texts are Fortunate for Us and Rich Friend of the Beings of Light. The first of these is extant in Uighur, and both describe the coming and saving acts of a savior figure with imagery associated with other soteriological traditions: intercession, purification, washing, healing, and heavenly ascension. The Middle Persian hymns include “The Speech of the Living Self” and “The Speech of the Light Self,” both of which are attested in Soghdian fragments. These texts focus on the divine light trapped in the material prison of the body and the physical world.
MANICHAEAN MAGICAL TEXTS. Extant in Parthian and Middle Persian are incantations and amulets that are associated with Manichaean circles. These texts closely parallel information found in other esoteric textual traditions, including angelology, demonology, and the names of God, and refer to prophetic figures such as Adam and Jesus (see also MAGIC).
MANNA. Miraculous food with which God feeds the Israelites, along with quail, while they are wandering in the wilderness (Exod 16:14–30 and Q 2:57, 2:263, 7:160, 20:80). Scholars typically identify manna with the sticky sweet juice exuded by twigs and leaves of the turfa tree (a species of tamarisk) in the western Sinai between May and June. Muslim exegetes also report that manna is the gum of trees, something like a thick juice. The Hebrew word seems to indicate that the Israelites, bewildered by the substance, called it “manna,” meaning “what (is it)?” (Exod 16:15). It appeared along with dew, looked like coriander seed, and had the yellowish color of bdellium (Exod 16:14; Num 11:7–9). After it was gathered, the people “ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and the taste of it was like the taste of fresh oil” (Num 11:8). Muslim exegetes associate manna with the food given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, as they do the quail, which is said to be a special bird from the Garden of Eden. The last appearance of manna coincided with the Passover celebrated by Joshua, which marked the Israelite’s entrance into Canaan (Josh 5:12).
Later legal tradition recalls the manna as evidence that humans “shall not live by bread alone” (Deut 8:3, 8:16). Its importance is signaled by its appearance in the liturgy, which refers to it as the “grain of heaven” (Ps 78:24), and by post-exilic recollections of Israel’s early history (Neh 9:20). Talmudic tradition included manna as one of the 10 items created by God on the eve of the Sabbath at twilight (TB Pesahim 54a). Muslim exegetes refer to the manna as one of the blessings given by God to the Israelites with which they were not satisfied and for which they did not thank him. Both Jewish and Muslim tradition state that a jar of manna was among the contents of the Ark of the Covenant.
MARDUK PROPHECY. Mesopotamian text that claims to contain the words of the Babylonian god Marduk. In the prophecy Marduk describes the capture and journey of his cult statue from one city to another as intended by the god, despite the fact that the statue was captured by the Hittites in 1594 BCE, then taken from there to the city Assur by the Assyrians. It also tells of a brief stay in Elam to the east of Mesopotamia. In each place Marduk visited (except for Elam), the god’s presence brought prosperity. Though the text also prophesies the rise of a Babylonian king who will take the statue back to Babylon and rebuild Marduk’s temple, scholars have shown that it was written after the events it reports (see also EX EVENTU), during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar I (1224–1103 BCE), who succeeded in bringing it back from Elam. The prophecy is reminiscent of the biblical Ark of the Covenant, which was stolen by the Philistines and made a circuitous journey back to the Israelites, bestowing plagues upon the Philistines and blessing upon those who cared for it on its journey (1 Samuel 4:1–11, 5–6). It also raises questions with regard to the role of fictive elements and conventions in prophetic texts.
MARI. Mesopotamian site on the mid-Euphrates River that yielded more than 25,000 cuneiform documents during its many excavations from 1933 to 1955, only a small percentage of which have been published. The tablets date to the second millennium BCE (c. 1750–1697 BCE) and are the product of the Amorite civilization. Excavations at Mari uncovered a few dozen prophetic epistolary texts dating from the final decade of King Zimri-Lim (1730–1697 BCE) that closely resemble the prophetic materials found in the Bible, despite being separated in time by more than six centuries. In particular they offer the earliest attestation of intuitive prophecy; a “direct” type of revelation that apparently does not rely on mantic or divinatory devices (see also PROPHECY; PROPHET). It is unknown whether these prophecies were self-inspired or the result of divine initiative, but it is clear that the intuitive prophets of Mari, both male and female, existed alongside the more traditional mantics such as extispicers, dream interpreters, and readers of portents and omens (see also EGIRRÛ). In some cases, the same figure appears familiar with multiple methods of accessing the divine.
Scholars have distinguished the intuitive prophecies of Mari from the biblical prophecies by pointing to their tendency to be concerned with the well-being of the royal house, rather than with its excesses and the social and moral inequities they create. Nevertheless, the number of prophetic texts is still small, and the apparent lack of attestation could be an accident of discovery. Indeed, one Mari prophecy does command the king in the name of Adad, god of Aleppo, to judge the cases of his wronged subjects, a prophecy not unlike that found in Jeremiah (Jer 21:12, 22:3). Five kinds of prophets appear in the Mari texts: a “priest-prophet” [Akk. shangûm], “male cultic prostitute and transvestite” [Akk. assinum], “pro-claimer” [Akk. qabbatum], “ecstatic” [Akk. muhhu], and “answerer” [Akk. apilum]. This last type apparently also prophesied in groups.
MARTYRDOM AND ASCENSION OF ISAIAH. Composite text describing the death of the prophet Isaiah and his visions as he ascends through the seven heavens. The complete text is extant only in Ethiopic, the earliest manuscripts dating to the 14th century CE, but the redaction of the composite text dates as early as the sixth century CE. Coptic fragments, composed in an archaic dialect (Proto-Subachimic) attest to the composite text in the fourth century CE. There also is a Greek legend of Isaiah in a 12th-century CE manuscript that incorporates the material from the composite text, but reverses the order of the two parts, putting the visions before the martyrdom.
The first five chapters describe the martyrdom of Isaiah and are thought to represent what was originally a separate work, composed in Hebrew and translated into Greek before being combined with chapters 6–11. A Greek fragment dating to the fifth or sixth century CE preserves portions of chapters 2–4, and the Old Church Slavonic recensions and the second Latin recension attest only to chapters 6–11. Some scholars also identify 3:13–4:22 as a later Christian addition entitled the Testament of Hezekiah, mentioned by an 11th-century Byzantine historian.
The text describes the conflict between Isaiah and the wicked Israelite kings (1:1–3:12), and contains a prophesy about the coming of the “Beloved” who is to be crucified, resurrected, and ascend to the seventh heaven (3:13–4:22). These verses also prophesy the future corruption of postapostolic Christianity, and the second coming of the Lord. Chapter 5 recounts the execution of Isaiah, sawn in half with a wooden saw. This martyrdom also appears in accounts of the killing of Zechariah, father of John the Baptist. Chapters 6–9 describe the ascent of Isaiah through the seven heavens, where he has various visions of angels and thrones. In the seventh heaven, Isaiah meets Abel and Enoch sitting on thrones like angels, and sees the record books of people’s deeds. Chapters 10–11 narrate the commission of Jesus Christ, his descent and miraculous birth, his crucifixion and resurrection, and his ascent through the seven heavens. The text ends with Isaiah’s instructions to Hezekiah concerning these visions.
MARY, MOTHER OF JESUS. Mary the mother of Jesus is found in the Quran (Q 3:33–47, 19:16–26) more often than in the New Testament. She is said to be the “daughter of Imran” (Q 3:35) and the “sister of Aaron” (Q 19:28), an apparent conflation of Mary the mother of Jesus with Miriam the sister of Moses and Aaron. The mother of Mary is not identified by name in the Quran, but Q 3:35 states that she made a vow to give Mary to God as a sacred trust. Muslim exegesis, like the account in the Protoevangelium of James, models the birth of Mary on the birth of Samuel and Samson, making Mary’s mother to be Hannah. Hannah is said to have been barren until she asked God to give her a child whom she then vowed to consecrate to the service of God, as a servant of the temple in Jerusalem. The Quran also makes Zechariah, the uncle of Mary, to be the guardian of Mary during her service in the temple (Q 3:37). Muslim exegetes add that Mary stayed in her own cell in the temple, and that food miraculously appeared for her there: summer fruits in the winter and winter fruits in the summer. The annunciation and the nativity of Jesus also are described in the Quran and Muslim exegesis, and feature Mary. Muslim exegetes preserve a tradition that Mary is one of four women identified as the best women in the world along with Asiyah the wife of the pharaoh, Khadijah the first wife of the prophet Muhammad, and Fatima the daughter of the prophet Muhammad and wife of Ali b. Abi Talib. Abu Hurayrah reports that Mary was the only person born who was not attacked by Satan because she was protected by her mother, perhaps a reference to the immaculate conception.
MASORETIC TEXT. Present form of the biblical Hebrew text based ultimately on the textual tradition of Jewish scholars known as the Masoretes (eighth–ninth centuries CE). In order to preserve their recitation tradition, which was gradually falling into disuse under the spread of Arabic as a common tongue, the Masoretes invented a series of vowel points that they placed above and below the consonantal text. They also added a series of marginal notes (the Masorah) to assist a deeper study of the text. The system of vocalization and the critical apparatus allowed them to preserve their reading traditions while simultaneously leaving the sacred consonants intact. In the early period of masoretic transmission, the consonants were written by “writers, counters” [Heb. soferim], and the vowels by “pointers” [Heb. naqdim]. In late antiquity, there was a western Masoretic tradition, centered at Tiberius, and an eastern tradition, whose schools centered at Sura, Nehardea, and Pumbeditha in Mesopotamia. By the 11th century CE, however, only the western vocalization tradition remained in existence.
MASSEBAH. Hebrew term for standing stones of various heights used both as commemorative steles and cultic objects of worship. Some biblical texts refer to the erection of a massebah as a symbol of alliance (Gen 31:45; Exod 24:4; Isa 19:19–20), whereas others appear in sanctuaries (e.g., Shechem in Josh 24:26–27; Bethel in Gen 28:18, 31:31). Moses erected 12 standing stones near Yahweh’s altar, which served to represent the 12 tribes of Israel (Exod 24:4).
Some scholars have suggested that the massebah has its origins in the cult of the dead, especially of one’s ancestors and relatives, as a physical representation of the family line. Indeed, the patriarch Jacob sets up a massebah over Rachel’s grave (Gen 35:20), and David’s son Absalom erected one to mark his lack of progeny (2 Sam 18:18). The account of Jacob setting up a massebah at Bethel (lit. “House of God”) in Gen 28:18 similarly appears in the context of the promise of progeny, though here it is taken also to be a memorial of the theophany. In other contexts, the standing stone was considered a god, for instance Baal (2 Kgs 3:2), and in other cases it is erected alongside an idol (Lev 26:1; Deut 7:5). Its association with male deities explains why biblical texts often mention it in connection with Asherah, both a goddess and sacred tree (Deut 12:3; see also ASHERAH). Asherah also was worshipped at Bethel (2 Kgs 23:15), the site where Jacob earlier had erected a massebah. Its association with unsanctioned forms of worship caused the erecting of a massebah to become illegal (Deut 12:3).
MECCA. City located in the middle of the Hijaz on the western coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Mecca is the cultic center of Islam. According to Muslim sources, Mecca was first established as a sanctuary by Adam, reestablished by Abraham, and finally returned to its rightful character by the prophet Muhammad. Mecca is the site of the Ka‘bah, which is the focus of Muslim prayer and pilgrimage, and its sanctuary is considered the most sacred place on earth.
Adam is said to have established the sanctuary at Mecca after being expelled from the Garden of Eden. Muslim exegetes explain that Adam fell to Sri Lanka where he stood atop Mt. Nod and experienced the angels worshipping God in paradise. God ordered Adam to make a pilgrimage to Mecca and establish there a sanctuary as a temporary earthly substitute for the Garden of Eden. Several of the geographical features of Mecca are identified in etiological myths associated with Adam’s meeting of Eve in Muzdalifah and Arafat. The well of Zamzam also first appears in Mecca to purify Eve from menstruation so that she could enter the sanctuary. God instructed Adam in the rites of the pilgrimage [Ar. hajj], which he performed to the amazement of the angels who perform similar rites around the throne of God in paradise. Adam’s tent served as the first Ka‘bah, and it is reported that God sent down a special gemstone or crystal Ka‘bah from heaven that was later taken back up in the time of the deluge when Noah’s ark circumambulated the site seven times.
Abraham is reported to have reestablished the sanctuary at Mecca, rebuilt the Ka‘bah there, and reinstituted the practice of the pilgrimage to Mecca. Ishmael and Hagar first came to Mecca after they were expelled from Syria by Abraham and Sarah. Hagar ran between Safa and Marwah seven times looking for water for the infant Ishmael, thus establishing the rite of running between Safa and Marwah in the pilgrimage (see also HAGAR). Abraham visited Mecca when Ishmael was older, and the two of them were commanded by God to rebuild the Ka‘bah and reestablish the pilgrimage (Q 2:125, 22:26–27).
Abraham is guided to the spot of the Ka‘bah by the “presence of God” (Ar. sakinah) and is said to have built it out of materials taken from five mountains. The list is given variously including the following: Judi, Sinai, Zion, Olives, Tabor, Lebanon, and Hira. All of these mountains are associated with sanctuaries and revelations to other prophets, and suggest the notion of Mecca as the “navel” or center of the earth. Many of the traditions associated with cosmic mountains and with Jerusalem in particular are associated with Mecca also and the sanctuary there.
After reestablishing the sanctuary and the pilgrimage, Abraham is reported to have asked God to protect the people of Mecca (Q 2:126) and to raise a prophet from among them (Q 2:129). Ishmael was sent as a prophet to the Jurhum who resided in Mecca with Ishmael and Hagar, but Muslim exegetes interpret Q 2:129 as a reference to the coming of the prophet Muhammad who would descend from the line of Ishmael.
In the time of the prophet Muhammad, Mecca was in the hands of polytheists, except for a few people who seem to have followed the “religion of Abraham” and venerated the Ka‘bah. After moving from Mecca to Medina, the prophet Muhammad changed the direction of prayer from Jerusalem to the Ka‘bah in Mecca. The Quran refers to the “Place of Abraham” [Ar. maqam Ibrahim], which is regarded by early Muslim exegetes as encompassing all of the area of the sanctuary in Mecca (Q 2:125, 3:97). Other sources see the “Place of Abraham” as a particular spot or stone near the Ka‘bah. The reference seems to relate to biblical and Jewish sources that regard Mt. Moriah and the temple in Jerusalem as the “place” or “house” of Abraham (Gen 22:4, Jub 22:24).
Also relating the sanctuary at Mecca to Jerusalem are the accounts of the rediscovery of the well of Zamzam by Abd al-Muttalib, the grandfather of the prophet Muhammad. Along with the well, Abd al-Muttalib also uncovered golden temple implements and other items from Syria, which may allude to other traditions in which the temple vessels from the temple in Jerusalem are said to have been hidden in the earth until the end of time (2 Macc 2:4–8; 2 Bar 6:7; 4 Bar 4; see also HIDDEN TEMPLE VESSELS).
Muslim eschatology states that at the end of time the Antichrist [Ar. Dajjal] will destroy the Ka‘bah before the Day of Resurrection and Judgment. Some sources also refer to God’s sending of an eschatological or “new” Ka‘bah at the end of time (see also NEW JERUSALEM).
MEDICINE. In the ancient Near East, the medical arts were practiced by, or associated with, mantic professionals, because sickness and disease were perceived as acts of gods or demons (though not necessarily as divine punishments).
In ancient Egypt, medicine was intimately bound up in religious practices and frequently involved performative utterances (see also MAGIC), and physical treatments including the ingestion of potions (see also DRUGS). In Mesopotamia, the same figures who served as medical practitioners also performed exorcisms, spells, and prepared the remedies. Similar remarks could be made with regard to medical practices at Mari and Ugarit (see also SHAMAN).
The Hebrew Bible also testifies to the role of the mantic in medicine. The religious system of Israel permitted little room for agents of sickness other than Yahweh, however. It is Yahweh who wounds and heals (Exod 15:26; Job 5:18), and it is Yahweh who curses Israel with diseases should they break their covenantal agreement with him (Deut 28:15–22). Yahweh also inflicts diseases upon the Egyptians (Exodus 7–10), and Yahweh is considered the only true physician (Deut 32:39). Israelite conceptions of sickness and disease, therefore, are tied closely to those of divine transgression and ritual impurity (Exod 11:1; Deut 24:8; 1 Sam 6:8). Since prophets served as Yahweh’s spokespersons, medicine and health care generally fell into their domain. Thus, the Bible tells how the prophet Elijah healed a widow’s son of his terminal illness (1 Kgs 17:21–23; cf., 2 Kgs 4:34–35), and how an Aramaean king called upon the prophet Elisha to heal him of his leprosy (2 Kgs 5:3–14).
Medical services such as these often required that the prophet first seek an oracle (see also ORACLE) to ascertain whether the patient could be treated (2 Kings 1, 8, 20; 2 Chr 16:12). In exchange for his services the prophet was paid (1 Kgs 14:2–3). On some occasions music was employed as a therapeutic device (1 Sam 16:14), and on others, an implement or ritual object was used. Moses, for example, employed a bronze serpent to heal the people of their snake bites (Num 21:4–9). The implement apparently had later gained status as a relic of ritual use until King Hezekiah (715–687 BCE) had it removed from the temple and destroyed (2 Kgs 18:4; see also RELICS). Later Jewish tradition, especially the Talmud, preserves a great deal of medical knowledge as well, much of it attesting to Mesopotamian influence. For example, the Talmud contains a number of medical recipes and a collection of symptoms (TB Gittin 68b-70a), as well as a discussion of dreams used for therapeutic purposes (TB Berakhoth 57b).
The New Testament and Quran attribute healing powers to Jesus, and later exegetes explain that these miracles were evidence of his prophetic status. Often, Jesus’ healing power is portrayed as the exorcism of demons, paralleling the role of prophets against affliction in the Hebrew Bible. In Matt 9:12 Jesus compares himself to a physician (cf., Luke 4:23), and Jesus is called the “Great Physician.” Col 4:14 refers to Luke, the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, as the “beloved physician.” Later texts prescribe concoctions and elixirs designed to remedy specific diseases and ailments. Many of these texts are specifically attributed to prophets, are said to have been revealed by God for the prophets’ use, and connect demon possession with disease.
MEDINA. City to which the prophet Muhammad emigrated in 622 CE and established the first Islamic society. The original name of the city, Yathrib, appears in Q 33:13 and is attested in Greek geographical works [Gk. Iathrippa] and in Minaean inscriptions. The name Medina derives from a common Arabic noun meaning “city” or “state.” The noun occurs several times in the Quran in relation to the city, but may not have been taken as the proper name of the city until later.
Muslim sources report that the original inhabitants of the city were the Amalekites, and this may be related to traditions that conflate the Jurhum, who settled in Mecca at the time of Ishmael, with the Amalekites (see also AMALEKITES). From an early period there was a strong Jewish presence in the city, and at the time of the Hijrah (622 CE) there were three large Jewish groups in the city: the Qurayzah, Nadir, and Qaynuqa. These groups seem to have been in competition with two large Arab groups, the Aws and Khazraj, who traced their ancestry to Yemen. In the pre-Islamic period, the Aws and Khazraj worshipped the god al-Manat at a shrine between Medina and Mecca. After the Hijrah the Islamic “community” [Ar. ummah] consisted of three clans from the Aws, two from the Khazraj, and the group of emigrants from Mecca. The Medinan Muslims were known as the “Helpers” [Ar. Ansar] and the Meccan emigrants were “Those who Made Hijrah” [Ar. Muhajirun]. In 624 CE the Qaynuqa Jews were expelled from Medina and in 625 the Nadir Jews were expelled. In 627 the Muslims massacred the Qurayzah Jews. These violent disputes with the Jews of Medina reflect social and economic concerns, but also indicate Jewish resistance to accepting the prophethood of Muhammad.
The prophet Muhammad died in Medina in 632 CE and was buried in his house. In time the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina and his tomb (known by the Ar. “hujra” meaning “room”) became a place of pilgrimage. Also buried there are Aishah, the prophet’s wife, and the first two caliphs, Abu Bakr and Uthman. Mecca and Medina together are called the “Two Sanctuaries” [Ar. Al-Haramayn], and Muslims going on pilgrimage to Mecca often append a visit to the Mosque and Tomb of the Prophet in Medina to their itinerary.
MEKHILTA. Nine-chapter midrashic text that deduces rules for living from the book of Exodus. The Mekhilta begins with Exodus 12 and continues to 23:19, though the legal statutes concerning the celebration of the Sabbath conclude the work (Exod 31:12–17, 35:1–3). Jewish tradition dates the Mekhilta to 90–130 CE, but it was edited and reworked in the centuries following.
MERISM. Common literary usage in the Bible in which two opposites are brought together to denote a totality. Thus, the tree of the knowledge of “good and evil” represents the tree of “all knowledge,” the expression “from Dan to Beersheba” (1 Sam 3:20) means “all of Israel,” and the famous periods of time listed by Qohelet, “A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up,” represent times for all things (Qohelet 3).
MERKABAH [CHARIOT] MYSTICISM. Term derived from the Hebrew word [merkabah] meaning “chariot,” described by the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1) as a throne of God. In later Jewish tradition, Ezekiel’s vision became the prototype object of visionary contemplation. Merkabah mysticism began to take root in the first century CE, perhaps under the influence of groups whose mythology centered on a biblical demiurge. In the early and late Middle Ages, however, this movement was centered in Babylonia. At the heart of the merkabah mystic experience were ecstatic visions of God’s throne and the celestial beings, and the ultimate goal was to see God’s throne on the divine chariot. Later written tradition describes the ascent of the visionary as a dangerous journey through seven “heavenly dwellings,” guarded by harmful angelic beings. In order to pass unharmed the initiate had to fast and recite performative formulae known as “seals.” The Talmud tells of four men who attempted the journey: one died, one went insane, and one committed apostasy. Only the fourth, Rabbi Aqiba ben Joseph, had a successful visionary experience.
MESSENGER. The word messenger [Heb. mal’akh, Gk. angelos] appears in the Bible for humans (Gen 32:4; Judg 6:35) and divine figures, i.e., “angels” (Gen 19:1; 1 Kgs 13:18; Ps 103:20, 104:4; Job 33:23), whose primary role involves delivering a missive from one party to another. The Arabic term for messenger or apostle [Ar. rasul] occurs many times in the Quran, usually denoting a prophet, but also angels (see also APOSTLE). The use of the term messenger in reference to biblical prophets as “heralds of Yahweh” occurs only in post-exilic texts (Isa 42:19, 44:26; Hag 1:13; Mal 3:1; 2 Chr 36:15), thus suggesting a later development with regard to the conception of a prophet’s mission. Some scholars see this change as representative of the impact of Mesopotamian heraldry on prophetic discourse.
MESSIAH. Title meaning “anointed one” that is applied in the Bible to priests, prophets, angels, and kings who have been anointed with oil by religious authorities (i.e., prophets and priests), thus marking them with special status and divine commission (see also ANOINT). The application of the title Messiah to the Persian king Cyrus (r. 559–530 BCE) in Isa 45:1 is a special case, since doubtless, the king was not physically anointed by Israelite religious authorities. The term also appears in the Quran 11 times as a title for Jesus.
A belief in a future messiah who will descend from King David and deliver Israel from a time of great distress is already in place by the eighth century BCE as is seen in the prophecies of Isaiah (Isa 9:5, 11:1–5), but these messianic expectations were not applied to the time of the eschaton until late in the post-exilic period (see also ESCHATOLOGY). Such messianism is reflected only in late psalms (e.g., Psalm 2, 72, 110) and biblical books such as the book of Daniel (Dan 9:25), and in the Dead Sea Scrolls in which one finds the expectation that two messiahs will come, one a priest, and the other a king (cf., Ps 110:4). Jewish messianic expectations, of course, also fueled the movement that later would become Christianity, though Jesus himself appears to have been rather reluctant to apply the title to himself (Mark 8:29–30).
Later Jewish tradition, like later Christian tradition, sometimes reinterprets biblical prophecies in a messianic light. To cite just one example with a counterpart in Christian exegesis, the Targum inserts the word messiah into its translation of the famous suffering servant poem of Deutero-Isaiah (Targum to Isa 53:10, 53:13). The Talmud too similarly treats certain biblical passages as esoteric references to the Messiah (TB Sanhedrin 98b). Messianic expectations and interpretations can be found also in a great number of Jewish midrashic, Hekhalot, and exegetical texts and continued to be relevant throughout the Islamic period.
METATRON. Figure in Jewish and Islamic texts closely associated with Enoch and the prophet Idris. The name Metatron also appears as “Maytatrun” or “Mitatron” and appears to be of Greek origin or perhaps represents an attempt to imitate a Greek name.
One of the earliest references to Metatron is in Muslim commentaries on Q 9:30–31 where Ezra, said to be seen by the Jews as the son of God, appears to represent a Jewish notion of a second power in heaven. The eighth-century CE Persian Mother of the Book [Pers. Umm al-Kitab] ascribes to Metatron the role of a demiurge in creating the earth. Several Muslim and Christian heresiographical texts refer to a Jewish group that worships a “Little God” or second minor power in heaven. The Alphabet of Rabbi Aqiba also refers to the “Lesser Yahweh,” and this reference is repeated in Muslim texts as a designation of the angel who created the earth. Texts associated with Hekhalot mysticism assert that the “Angel of Yahweh” who appears to people on earth, and the image of God on the Divine Chariot, is not God himself, but Metatron, God’s look-alike.
3 Enoch identifies Metatron with the transformed Enoch. Both 1 and 2 Enoch also describe the ascension of Enoch and his translation into heavenly status, but 3 Enoch specifically describes Enoch as being transformed into a visual replica of God. Enoch becomes Metatron when God increases his size, gives him a throne in heaven, clothes and crowns him in cosmic light, gives him wings, and transforms his body into fire. God also reveals to Metatron all the secrets of creation, and his crown is inscribed with the letters by which the cosmos was brought into being. Metatron is designated as the chief of the angels and the Prince of the Divine Presence [Heb. sar hashekhinah]. In Samaritan and later Hebrew incantation texts and amulets, Metatron appears as the “Prince of the Torah” [Heb. sar ha-Torah] because of his station next to God.
Metatron appears by name in a “Letter on the Invocation of Spirits” attributed to the Muslim philosopher Kindi (d. 866 CE), which Kindi says he borrowed from an earlier source. Here Metatron is one of the 12 “servants of the day” along with other spirits such as Immanuel and Elohim. Metatron also is conjured as a Jinn in the medieval Egyptian shadow play of Ibn Danyal. As an angel, Metatron occurs in the 13th-century CE magical collections of Ahmad al-Buni (d. 1225 CE). In these texts, though Metatron is pervasive, he is not always portrayed as the head of the angels. Buni refers to a “crown” and “lance” of Metatron, and the name of Metatron is said to be one of the names inscribed on the rod of Moses. The name also occurs on amulets and in incantations in Muslim contexts. In other places, Metatron is linked to the name of God and is said to be the chief angel who attends to the throne of God, which corresponds to the Jewish designation of Metatron as the Prince of the Torah. In the magic text of Ibn Hajj al-Tilimsani (16th century CE) Metatron is described similarly as having knowledge of the “Pen” of God, which writes on the “Preserved Tablet” (see Q 85:22).
MICAH. Book of the Minor Prophets that preserves the prophecies of Micah, a prophet from the village of Moresheth in Gath who prophesied during the reigns of Jotham (750–734 BCE), Ahaz (735–715 BCE), and Hezekiah (727–698 BCE) (Mic 1:1). The book of Jeremiah (Jer 26:18) also mentions that Micah prophesied during the reign of Hezekiah. He thus was a contemporary of the prophet Isaiah, and some scholars even see him as Isaiah’s disciple (compare Mic 4:1–4 and Isa 2:2–4). The book of Micah is concerned primarily with the excesses of the aristocracy, which the prophet holds responsible for the ensuing Assyrian threat. Some scholars see in the book signs of a later editor. Mic 7:8–10, for example, appears to refer to the Babylonian, not Assyrian destruction, and Mic 7:11–20 mentions the repairing of Jerusalem’s walls and apparent return from exile. The prophecy in Mic 5:2–4 that Bethlehem will again be the site of another Davidic king is taken up in Christianity as a prophecy of the Christ.
MICAIAH. The prophet Micaiah, son of Imlah, appears in 1 Kings 22 as having worked in the court of King Ahab (r. 869–850 BCE), though 1 Kgs 22:8 states that Ahab disliked his prophecies because they always bade ill of him. Still, he was summoned by Jehoshaphat king of Judah while visiting Ahab’s court, and asked for his prophecy concerning whether he should attempt to take Ramoth-Gilead back from the Aramaeans. Micaiah told him not to attempt it, and that if he did, the king would die. He was struck in the face by Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, one of the other prophets working in the court, and thrown in prison. Despite Micaiah’s warning, Ahab went to battle and was killed.
MICHAEL. Name of an archangel in Jewish and Islamic traditions. Michael is mentioned by name one time in the Quran (Q 2:98). Michael, the angel, is mentioned thrice in the Hebrew Bible (Dan 10:13, 10:21, 12:1), and twice in the New Testament (Jude 9; John 12:7–9). In the Muslim exegesis of Q 2:98 it is reported that the verse was revealed when the Jews of Medina challenged the prophet Muhammad to tell them the name of the angel bringing him revelations. When he responded that it was Gabriel, the Jews claimed that Gabriel was their enemy (Q 2:97), but Michael was the angel who revealed things to their prophets. Muslim exegetes also explain that whereas the name Gabriel means “worshipper of God” the name Michael means “lesser worshipper of God.” In Jewish exegesis, Michael is said to be the greatest of the archangels who intercedes on behalf of the sinful. It is Michael who makes revelations to the different nations, and who appeared to Moses in the burning bush. Michael is claimed to be one of the three messengers who appeared to Abraham before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18), and his appearance is regarded as indicating the presence of God.
MIDIAN. Location named after the son of Abraham and Keturah corresponding to a large ethnic or political grouping somewhere in southern Jordan and northwest Arabia. The Midianites appear in several of the stories of the prophets. The Bible refers to the Midianites as merchants and seems to associate them with the Ishmaelites who take Joseph to Egypt (Gen 37:25–36). The Quran mentions Midian as the place to which the prophet Shuayb was sent. Muslim exegetes do not give a precise location for Midian but agree with the biblical genealogy that Midian was one of the sons of Abraham. Shuayb also is conflated with Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses from Midian, in the exegesis of Q 28:22–28. There are a number of links between Moses and Midian. In the Bible and Quran, Moses flees to Midian to escape the wrath of the pharaoh, and it is in Midian that God reveals himself to Moses in the burning bush (Genesis 2–4; Q 28:21–35). Mt. Horeb or Sinai, then, is to be located in Midian despite later Christian and Muslim identification of Sinai with Jabal Musa in the Sinai Peninsula (see also HOREB; SINAI). In The New Testament the apostle Paul refers to Sinai as a “mountain in Arabia,” possibly with the meaning of Roman Arabia or the area controlled by the Nabataeans (Gal 4:25). Archaeological evidence from the northern Hijaz shows that Midian came into political prominence around the 13th century BCE, and that the Midianites were not merely a nomadic people. Evidence of walled cities, irrigation, mining operations, and refined pottery demonstrates the sophistication of the civilization in the area.
MIDRASH. Form of early Jewish commentary on biblical texts often homiletic or didactic in character and originating in an oral context. The hermeneutics employed in midrashic literature make the biblical texts appeal to a contemporary age. Prominent among midrashic hermeneutics is the use of word play as a means of connecting the original text to its new interpretation.
MIDRASH HA-GADOL. Name given to a midrashic commentary on the Torah compiled sometime in the early 13th century CE in Yemen. It contains a number of early midrashic traditions that are extant nowhere else.
MIDRASH TANHUMA. Name referring to various medieval compilations of Jewish exegesis of the Bible. Several related texts and fragments are extant, but there has been no successful attempt to trace these back to a single original text. There are two printed editions commonly referred to by the name Midrash Tanhuma, one edited by S. Buber (Jerusalem, 1964), and another reprinted many times as the “standard” edition.
MINOR PROPHETS. The 12 prophetic books of the Jewish canon, namely: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. They are called “minor” because of their size relative to the prophetic texts found in the Major Prophets.
MIQRA’OT GEDOLOT. Hebrew title (lit. “Great Readings”) of a number of rabbinic Bible editions incorporating the Targum and various Jewish commentaries. Sometimes the Latin title Biblia Rabbinica is given to this type of Bible. The earliest edition was published in 1517 CE and includes the Hebrew text of the Bible, several of the Aramaic Targums, the commentaries of many rabbinic exegetes, and assorted other rabbinic treatises on Jewish law and interpretation. This was the first Jewish Bible to divide into two the books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, and Ezra and Nehemiah. Other early editions were published in 1525 (by Jacob ben Hayyim of Tunis) and 1546 (by Cornelius Adelkind). Also influential was the seventh edition (Amsterdam, 1724–28), which added a number of Jewish commentaries, especially from more recent European scholars. The latest edition is that published in Warsaw (1860–68), which includes 32 different commentaries in addition to the Hebrew text and Targums.
MIRIAM. Sister of Moses and Aaron (Exod 15:20; Num 26:59). In Exod 15:20 she is mentioned as a prophetic musician (see also MUSIC). Traditions concerning her prophetic influence appear to be negotiated during the journey through the wilderness, where she is summoned by Yahweh, along with her brother Aaron, to the Tent of Meeting, and told that Moses is preeminent among the prophets (Num 12:5). In an account of Miriam’s competition with Moses for authority as a prophetic figure, Yahweh strikes her with ulcers of the skin (Num 12:10), from which she recovers only after Aaron and Moses pray for her (Num 12:11–14). For this act of hubris, she would become paradigmatic in the legal tradition (Deut 24:9). Nevertheless, later prophetic tradition recalls her positive attributes as a prophet (Mic 6:4).
Talmudic tradition recognizes Miriam as one of seven female prophets mentioned in the Bible, along with Sarah, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail, Huldah, and Esther (TB Megillah 14a). Rabbinic tradition also sees the well mentioned in Num 21:16–20 as the “well of Miriam.” The well was one of the 10 items created on the eve of the Sabbath at twilight (TB Pesahim 54a), and followed the Israelites while wandering in the wilderness (TB Pesahim 54a). It dried up when she died (TB Ta‘anith 9a), and her death is understood by Rashi (on Num 20:1) as atoning for the sins of the Israelites. Other traditions identify Miriam with the midwife Puah who helped to raise Moses (Exod 1:15; TB Sotah 11b) and with Azubah, the wife of Caleb (1 Chr 2:18; TB Sotah 12a).
The Quran does not refer to Miriam by name but mentions her as Moses’ sister (Q 28:11–12). There are two references to a Mary who is the “daughter of Imran” (Q 3:35) and the “sister of Aaron” (Q 19:28), but these are taken by Muslim exegetes, largely based on the context, as references to Mary, the mother of Jesus.
MISHNAH. Earliest authoritative codification of Jewish oral traditions believed by rabbinic tradition to have accompanied the written law given to Moses by God on Mt. Sinai. The oral materials that comprise the Mishnah (Heb. for “Repeated [study]”) were collected for centuries before being written down in the third century CE under the leadership of the Jewish scholar and religious leader Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi. The contents of the Mishnah represent an explanation and supplement for the legal materials found in the Torah, and are divided into six major sections, comprising a total of 63 tractates. In the centuries following the codification of the Mishnah, a tradition of exegesis developed around it that led to the creation of a commentary on the Mishnah known as the Gemara. Together, the Mishnah and Gemara make up the Talmud.
MONOLATRY. Term referring to the worship of one God while believing in the existence of many. Also referred to somewhat inaccurately as henotheism, which is, more aptly speaking, the belief in a hierarchy of deities who are embodied simultaneously in one Godhead. The monolatrous system characterized Israelite belief for most of its history. The national gods of other nations were recognized as existing (1 Sam 26:19), even though the Israelites chose to worship Yahweh alone (Deut 6:4). Monolatry gave way to ardent monotheism during and after the exilic period, perhaps under the influence of Iranian religion.
MONOTHEISM. Belief in and worship of a single God, to be distinguished from monolatry and polytheism. Though monolatry characterizes the religion of ancient Israel for most of its history, punctuated with brief periods of polytheism (1 Kgs 11:5), by the post-exilic period monotheism was the norm. Thus, Deutero-Isaiah asserts that Yahweh created both good and evil (Isa 45:7). Monotheism is the central and repeated message of prophets in the Quran, often expressed by variations of the phrase “There is no god but God.”
MOSES. Hebrew leader and lawgiver, seen as the greatest prophet of Israelite tradition. The Quran focuses more attention on Moses than any other prophet, being mentioned by name 137 times (the next most frequently mentioned is Abraham, 69 times). Moses is the son of Amram [Heb. Amram, Ar. Imran] and Jochebed, and younger brother of Aaron (Exod 4:14, 6:20). He is a Levite both in the Bible and in Muslim genealogies.
The birth of Moses is described in terms similar to the nativity of Abraham and Jesus. Exod 1:15–22 narrates how the pharaoh ordered the killing of all male Israelite babies. Jewish and Muslim sources explain that the pharaoh did this because he had been told by his advisors that a savior would be born to the Israelites. The Targum Yerushalmi (Exod 1:15–16) and the Chronicles of Moses describe the pharaoh as having a dream about his demise, which is interpreted by Jannes and Jambres, the two chief magicians of his court. The Quran indicates that Moses came to punish the pharaoh for exalting himself above God, and to show that the pharaoh could not escape what God had decreed for him (Q 28:6).
Moses was raised in the house of the pharaoh and received his education there. Exod 2:5 states that Moses was pulled from the water by a daughter of the pharaoh, but the Quran attributes the rescue and adoption to the wife of the pharaoh (Q 28:8–9). The New Testament states that Moses learned the “Wisdom of Egypt” (Acts 7:21–22), and Philo says that Moses learned all that could be known from the Egyptians, Greeks, Assyrians, and Chaldaeans (de Vita Mosis 1:23). Muslim exegetes explain that the pharaoh and his wife knew all along that Moses was an Israelite, and suggest further that they knew he was the one who would be the downfall of Egypt. The same point is made in accounts of Moses taking the pharaoh’s crown and putting it on his own head as a child (Antiquities 2.232–23b; Exodus Rabbah 1.26).
Moses’ killing of an Egyptian is recorded in Exod 2:11–15 and Q 28:14–21. Biblical texts explain that he killed the Egyptian man for treating an Israelite unjustly. Jewish exegetes explain that Moses knew that the man had raped an Israelite woman. Exodus Rabbah 1:29 asserts that Moses was clairvoyant, and that he killed the Egyptian taskmaster simply by speaking God’s name. In the Quran Moses beats the man to death immediately following his receiving “authority and knowledge” from God (Q 28:14–15).
The flight and stay in Midian is greatly expanded in nonbiblical sources. A number of them, perhaps related to the reference to Moses’ wife as an Ethiopian (Num 12:1), report that Moses spent time among the Ethiopians after leaving Egypt. Ibn Kathir reports that God sent an angel to guide Moses to Midian, and Kisa’i claims it was a magical lion that guided Moses. The Book of Jasher describes how Moses was imprisoned by Jethro and only succeeded in escaping with the help of his future wife Zipporah. Muslim exegetes conflate the entire Midian episode with the story of Jacob (Genesis 28–32). According to the Muslim exegesis of Q 28:21–28, Moses lifted a rock off the well in Midian and worked a number of years for Zipporah. Jethro’s other daughter is said to have been named Leah, and Moses is only allowed to leave after causing Jethro’s flocks to produce speckled sheep.
According to Exodus 3, Moses’ revelation at the burning bush takes place during his stay in Midian. While standing on a mountain, Moses has a theophoric experience in which Yahweh appears to him in the form of a burning bush. The Quran places the revelation during his trip back to Egypt from Midian (Q 28:29). Moses received the name of Yahweh and was shown two miracles (the turning of his staff into a serpent and the striking of his hand with ulcerations of the skin), which convinced him of the veracity of the event and his calling to free the Israelites from bondage (Exodus 5, Q 20:9–24, 27:7–12, 28:29–35).
Moses is described as a man with a speech impediment (Exod 4:10), despite ironically being summoned as a spokesperson for God. The same motif occurs in Q 28:34, and Moses is called the “Speaker of God” [Ar. kalim allah] in Muslim exegesis. The Armenian biblical expansion on the history of Moses accounts for his impediment by explaining that he had burned his tongue when he was a child. In his homilies on Exodus, Origen ingeniously points out that Moses had been well educated and was eloquent before the revelation, so it must have been when he heard God speak that he felt his own speech was inadequate.
The interaction between Moses and the pharaoh is richly narrated in the Bible and Quran. Exodus 5–11 describes a series of 10 plagues that culminates in the death of all first-born sons and the first Passover. Interwoven throughout the narrative is the contest between Moses and Aaron and the Egyptian magicians, identified as Jannes and Jambres in extrabiblical accounts. Q 79:24 emphasizes that the contest between Moses and the pharaoh was really a contest between the pharaoh who claimed to be God and God working through Moses. Q 40:23–46 mentions only five plagues, and adds that the pharaoh commanded Haman to build a tower like the Tower of Babel, and that there was one Egyptian who believed in Moses. The parting of the sea, the miraculous escape of the Israelites, and the punishment of the pharaoh are interpreted by many exegetes to be ironic justice for the pharaoh’s command to kill the Israelite babies by casting them into the sea. Exod 13:19 also notes that Moses took Joseph’s bones with him out of Egypt because of the promise made in Gen 50:24.
During the Israelites’ wandering in the wilderness Moses received the revelation of the tablets of the Law that embodied the legal and social covenant between God and the Israelites. According to Ezek 20:25–26 and some Christian and Muslim exegetes, the revelation of the Torah was a punishment for the sins of the Israelites, especially their worship of the golden calf. Other traditions refer to hidden revelations that were given to Moses, such as the Oral Torah and the book of the “second law” (Jub 6:22). Ibn Ishaq reports that when Moses came down from the mountain and saw that the Israelites were worshipping the golden calf, God took back part of the revelation that had been given to Moses.
Moses also plays an important role as leader of the Israelites. In addition to providing the Israelites with their laws and a means for administering them, Moses leads the Israelites in battle, reconnoiters the land, and repeatedly intercedes with God on behalf of the Israelites. Both Jewish and Muslim sources mention Moses’ defeat of the giant Og (Deut 3:1–11). According to the Talmud, the height of Moses was 10 cubits, a stature that helped him to slay the giant Og by striking his ankle with an ax (TB Berakhoth 54b). Tabari and other Muslim exegetes explain that Og was one of the giants who inhabited the land that God told the Israelites to take.
In Judaism, Moses eventually obtains the authoritative title “Moses our Teacher” [Heb. and Aram. Moshe Rabbenu], and is said to have experienced two heavenly ascents. The first, at the burning bush, provided him with secret lore, redemptive knowledge, and spiritual illumination. The divine esoterica also included cosmological secrets, the dimensions and presence of God, and information concerning the coming of the Messiah. Upon his death, Moses’ body was not subject to decay, and he achieved his second ascent, which gave him immortality (Rashi on Deut 34:7; TB Shabbath 152b; Baba Mezi‘a 84b). Thus, Moses acts as courtier in God’s palace, serving also as an intercessor (Esther Rabbah 7:13). Despite his importance, Moses never became the object of veneration in Judaism. There is no place in the liturgy for him, and while there are prayers to friendly ministering angels (e.g., Michael, Gabriel, Metatron) despite rabbinic disapproval (TY Berakhoth 9:1), and also prayers to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, there are no prayers to Moses or the God of Moses.
In Islam, Moses often is compared to the prophet Muhammad. Exegetes explain the revelation of certain passages from the Quran as being directed at the Jews of Medina, reminding them of the Israelites’ rebellion against Moses and God. Q 2:47–61 interprets all the events in the wilderness of wandering as a catalog of the Israelites’ sins, blessings that the Israelites failed to acknowledge. Q 2:48, perhaps echoing Exod 32:33–35 and Rom 11:1–10, also states that the Israelites will be punished for these sins on the Day of Judgment with no one to intercede on their behalf. In contrast to Exod 32:30–35, Q 5:25 depicts Moses as refusing to intercede for the Israelites and asking God to separate Aaron and himself from them. This is interpreted by Muslim exegetes, such as Tabarsi, to mean that Moses asked God to send the Israelites to hell while he and Aaron enjoyed paradise.
MOUNTAIN. Mountains are closely associated with the divine throughout the ancient world. Due to their height they were considered closer to the divine realm, and therefore served as locations where the mortal and divine worlds could meet and interact.
Mountains are sometimes referred to as the abode of a particular god. Mesopotamian temples often are referred to as “Houses of the Mountain” [Sum. É.KUR], and the construction of ziggurats similarly appears to have been modeled on mountains. The pyramids of Egypt also may have been inspired by mountains. In Ugaritic mythology the god Baal dwells on Mt. Zaphon, and the Greek god Zeus lives on Mt. Olympus.
In the Bible, the God of Israel is conceived of as a mountain god (1 Kgs 20:23, 20:28), as is the Moabite god Kemosh (1 Kgs 11:12) and the local goddess Asherah (2 Kgs 23:15). Many scholars also see Yahweh’s epithet “El Shaddai” as meaning “God of the Mountain” (based on the Akkadian cognate [Akk. shadu] meaning “mountain”). The theophanies of the patriarchs often occur on mountains (Gen 22:14, 28:17), and it is on Mt. Sinai (see also HOREB) that Yahweh established his covenant with the Israelites and where he forged the tablets of the Law (Exod 19:23, 31:18; Ps 68:16).
Prior to the construction of Yahweh’s temple, mountain sanctuaries provided legitimate places for sacrifice. The prophet Samuel offered sacrifices on various high places (1 Sam 9:12). The Ark of the Covenant also was placed in mountain sanctuaries (1 Sam 7:1). Solomon too sacrificed on a mountain at Gibeon (1 Chr 16:39). When Yahweh’s temple eventually was built, it also was placed on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem (Ps 2:6, 78:68–69). Ecstatic prophetic behavior, both Israelite and non-Israelite, sometimes occurs on mountaintops (Num 23:3; 1 Sam 10:5; 1 Kgs 18:30). Ezekiel even prophesies to the mountains of Israel (Ezek 36:1–2). It is possible that the altar for sacrifice was conceived of as a miniature mountain similar to the “high places” (Heb. bamoth) on which non-Israelite sacrifices took place. Such a conception would explain why the altar was not to be constructed with hewn stone (Deut 27:5).
Muslim sources also associate specific mountains with the sanctuary at Mecca as a place of divine and historical significance. According to many creation accounts, God created the “mound” of the Ka‘bah out of five mountains: Mt. Sinai, Mt. of Olives, Mt. Lebanon, Mt. Judi, and Mt. Hira. Sometimes the list includes Mt. Tabor. A similar tradition is connected to the account of Abraham’s building of the Ka‘bah in Mecca. Each of these mountains is associated with important prophetic figures: Mt. Sinai with Moses and Elijah, Mt. of Olives with Jesus, Mt. Lebanon with Solomon and the building of the temple, Mt. Judi as the spot where Noah’s ark came to rest after the deluge (the Bible refers to it as the mountains of Ararat), and Mt. Hira as the place where the prophet Muhammad received his first revelation. Mt. Tabor is identified in early Christian tradition as the mountain on which the Transfiguration of Jesus took place (Matt 17:1–8; Mark 9:2–8; Luke 9:28–36; see also HOREB; JABAL QAF; JABAL SIN; SINAI).
MU‘AWIYAH (r. 661–680 CE). Abu Abd al-Rahman Mu‘awiyah b. Abi Sufyan, founder of the Umayyad dynasty and Companion of the prophet Muhammad.
MUHAMMAD (570–632 CE). The Quran defines the prophet Muhammad as the “Seal of the Prophets” (Q 33:40). He is regarded by Muslims as the last in a long line of prophets originating with Adam and including many biblical and nonbiblical figures.
The coming of Muhammad was foretold by earlier prophets and in earlier books. Q 2:129 reports that Abraham asked God to raise up a prophet from among the people of Mecca to teach them the “Book and Wisdom” and to purify them. Q 61:6 relates that Jesus claimed to be a prophet fulfilling the Torah and bringing the good news of a messenger who came after him (cf., John 15:25–26; Luke 4:16–22). Q 7:157 ambiguously refers to a Gentile [Ar. ummi] prophet whose coming is foretold in the Torah and the Gospel, perhaps an allusion to Isa 42:1–4. Muslim exegetes make reference to early reports that the Torah, before it was altered by Jews, contained numerous references to Muhammad. One of these, reported by Ka‘b al-Ahbar, is supposed to have been God’s word that he was sending the “New Torah” that Muhammad might open the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf, and the hearts of the uncircumcised (see Isa 42:1–4, 35:5).
Several of Muhammad’s contemporaries are said to have seen or received signs foretelling the prophetic age. Ibn Ishaq reports that when Abd al-Muttalib visited Yemen the king told him about a secret book in which was found the description of a prophet named Muhammad who would lead the people to worship God, shun Satan, extinguish the fires of hell, and break idols. Also attributed to Abd al-Muttalib is the rediscovery of the well of Zamzam and the uncovering of the hidden temple vessels, both eschatological signs of the approaching new age. Ibn Ishaq reports that when Muhammad’s mother was pregnant, she saw a light that came out of her and illuminated for her the castles of Syria. It also is reported that a Christian monk identified Muhammad as a prophet when he traveled to Syria as a merchant before his first revelation.
The life of the prophet Muhammad is normally divided into three parts. The first includes what happened to him before his first revelation and consists mostly of accounts of those who acknowledged his special character or future role as a prophet. The second part concerns his call to be a prophet and his early mission in the city of Mecca. The third part begins with his move to Medina and ends with his death. From references in Ibn Ishaq’s biography of Muhammad, historians reconstruct the dates of significant events in these periods. Some scholars have questioned the validity of using later Muslim texts for this early history, and maintain that the biography of Muhammad, like the gospels, is less a “history” than an attempt to demonstrate the prophetic character of Muhammad.
It is said that the first revelation came to Muhammad when he was 40 years old, though the exact date is not known. If he was born in 570 CE, this would place his prophetic call in the year 610. Most exegetes agree that the first revelation was Q 96:1–3 and that Muhammad received these verses from the angel Gabriel while in seclusion in a cave on Mt. Hira. Other scholars record a tradition that for three years before the revelation of the Quran, the angel Israfil brought revelations to Muhammad in a language he could not understand (see also ISRAFIL; QURAN). Muhammad began his public preaching around 613 CE and around 615 CE a number of his early followers fled to Ethiopia to escape persecution in Mecca. In 619 CE Muhammad’s uncle Abu Talib died, and without his protection, Muhammad sought refuge first in Ta’if and later in Aqabah, where he made an agreement with the people of Medina. The “Emigration” [Ar. hijrah] to Medina took place in 622 CE, the date on which the Islamic or “Hijri” calendar begins. There were several battles between the Medinan supporters of Muhammad and the Meccans, including the Battle of Badr (624 CE), Battle of Uhud (625 CE), and Battle of Khandaq (627 CE). The Meccans finally surrendered to Muhammad, probably because the Medinans were successful in cutting off food supplies to Mecca, and signed the Treaty of Hudaybiyah in 628 CE. In 629 CE Muhammad and his followers performed a pilgrimage to Mecca, and in 630 CE the Muslims occupied Mecca and began sending deputations to different parts of Arabia. After a final pilgrimage in 632 CE, Muhammad died and his body was buried in Medina.
Foremost among Muhammad’s prophetic visions was his Night Journey [Ar. Isra] and Ascension [Ar. Mi‘raj] referred to in Q 17:1. There are many different accounts of these two journeys, often linking the Night Journey and Ascension into a single event. In most of the accounts Muhammad is taken by means of a special animal named “Buraq” from Mecca to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem Muhammad ascends through the seven heavens into the presence of God. In some accounts Muhammad meets various prophets in the different heavens through which he passes, and in other reports he meets all the prophets in Jerusalem and leads them in prayer. Some exegetes report that Muhammad traveled to various earthly sites associated with the prophets such as Mt. Sinai, the two cities at the edges of the earth, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem. During his trip through the heavens Muhammad is also shown the fate of sinners in hell and the rewards of the righteous in paradise. He sees the four rivers of paradise and the Lotus Tree, and is given the water of life (also identified as the river Kawthar) to distribute to his followers. The accounts of Muhammad’s Night Journey parallel the travels of Dhu al-Qarnayn, Alexander the Great, and Zosimos in the History of the Rechabites, and the accounts of his Ascension are similar to a number of the “tours of heaven and hell” found in texts such as the Apocalypse of Ezra.
MULLA SADRA (1571–1640 CE). Sadr al-Din Muhammad al-Shirazi, known as “Mulla Sadra,” was one of the best known and original of Muslim philosophers. He lived during the early period of Safavid Iran and in his masterwork entitled “The Four Journeys” [Ar. al-Asfar al-Arba‘a], he describes his own life as patterned after that of the prophet Muhammad. He studied Sufi thought, especially the works of Ibn Arabi and Suhrawardi, and relied most heavily on esoteric Shi‘i traditions attributed to Ja‘far al-Sadiq and Ali b. Abi Talib. Among his writings are Quran commentaries and philosophical works, the best known of which is his sophisticated mystical reflection on prophecy and theology entitled the “Wisdom of the Throne” [Ar. al-Hikma al-‘Arshiyah].
MUSIC. Though attested only periodically in reference to prophecy, it is clear that music played an important role in Israelite prophetic circles, as it did elsewhere in the ancient Near East. Not only do prophecies appear in poetic forms that at times seem to have been sung (see also POETRY), but in some cases music served to induce the prophetic experience. According to the biblical record, Moses’ sister Miriam, a prophet in her own right, is said to have sung her prophecies (Exod 15:20). The prophet Deborah also is known to have composed songs (Judg 4:4, Judges 5). The book of Samuel records that when King Saul was stricken with “an evil spirit of Yahweh” the young David would rid him of his distress by playing his lyre (1 Sam 16:23). King Saul too becomes enraptured in the prophetic spirit when he meets a band of prophets coming down from a high place prophesying to the music of “a lute, and a tambourine, and a pipe, and a lyre” (1 Sam 10:5).