CHAPTER 43

We have already explained in our compilations1 that prophets sometimes prophesy in parables. For sometimes a prophet sees a thing under the aspect of a parable, [90b] the meaning of that parable being sometimes interpreted to him in that very same vision of prophecy — just as a man may see a dream and imagine in that dream that he has already awakened and that he has related the dream to somebody else and has interpreted its meaning to him, all this taking place in a dream. This is what they call a dream solved in a dream.² Again there are dreams whose meaning becomes known after one awakens. Similarly there are parables of the prophets whose meaning is interpreted in a vision of prophecy, as is made clear with regard to Zechariah, when he says, after having first set forth the parables: And the angel that spoke with me returned, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, and he said unto me: What seest thou?, and so on,³ and then interpreted the parable for him; and as is made clear with regard to Daniel in the dictum: Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed.⁴ Thereupon it sets forth all the parables and mentions his being anxious because he did not know their interpretation until he asked the angel who in that very vision made known to him their interpretation. And that is what he says: I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.⁵ It calls the whole story a vision [ḥazon] after having mentioned that [Daniel] had a dream; this in view of the fact that, as has been mentioned, an angel interpreted the dream to him in a dream of prophecy. This is made known in the dictum that comes afterwards: A vision [ḥazon] appeared unto me, even unto Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.⁶ This is manifest; for ḥazon derives from ḥazoh [to perceive], and marʾh [vision] derives from raʾoh [to see], and ḥazoh and raʾoh have the same meaning. There is no difference between one’s saying in a marʾeh [vision], in a maḥazeh [sight], or in a ḥazon.⁷ And there is no third way other than the two stated expressly in the Torah: I do make Myself known unto him in a vision, I do speak with him in a dream.⁸ However, there are degrees in regard to this, as shall be explained.⁹ Among the parables of the prophets there are [91a] many whose meaning is not interpreted in a vision of prophecy, but whose purpose is known by the prophet after he awakens; thus, for instance, the parable of the staves that Zechariah took in a vision of prophecy.10

Know that just as the prophets see things whose purpose it is to constitute a parable — as for instance Zechariah’s lamps¹¹ and the horses and the mountains,¹² Ezekiel’s scroll,¹³ the wall made by a plumbline that was seen by Amos,¹⁴ the beasts seen by Daniel,¹⁵ and the seething pot that was seen by Jeremiah,¹⁶ and other similar parables whose purpose it is to imitate certain notions — they¹⁷ also see things whose purpose it is to point to what is called to the attention by the term designating the thing seen because of that term’s derivation or because of an equivocality of terms. In that case the action of the imaginative faculty consists in occasioning the appearance of a thing designated by an equivocal term, through one of whose meanings another one can be indicated. This too is one of the kinds of the making of parables. For instance the intention in the dictum of Jeremiah concerning maqqel shaqed [a rod of almond tree] is an indication based on the equivocality of the term shaqed [almond]. Scripture accordingly proceeds to say: Ki shoqed ʾani, and so on [For I watch over].¹⁸ Thus in this case the intention of the parable did not concern the notion of rod or that of almond. Similarly Amos saw klub qayiṣ [a basket of summer fruit],¹⁹ so that he should infer from it the end of the period. It accordingly says: Baʾ haq-qeṣ [The end is come].²⁰

Stranger²¹ than this is the intimation aroused through the use of a certain term whose letters are identical with those of another term; solely the order of the letters is changed; and between the two terms there is in no way an etymological connection²² or a community of meaning.²³ You will find an example in the parables of Zechariah, when, in a vision of prophecy, he takes two staves in order to shepherd cattle, naming one of them grace [noʾam] and the other ravagers [ḥoblim].²⁴ The intention of this parable was to show that in its beginnings the religious community25 subsisted in the grace of the Lord, who was the one who led [91b] and consolidated it, and that it rejoiced and took pleasure in obedience to God, while God was pleased with it and loved it; just as it says: Thou hast avouched the Lord this day, and so on. And the Lord hath avouched thee this day, and so on.²⁶ Moses was the one who governed and directed this community at that time, and after him some of the prophets. Afterwards the state of this community came to such a pass that obedience to God became repugnant to it and that it became repugnant to God. Accordingly He set up ḥoblim [ravagers] like Jeroboam and Manasseh as its chiefs. This is to be understood according to the etymological derivation of the word; for ḥoblim derives from the expression, meḥabblim keramim [that spoil the vineyards].²⁷ In addition the prophet inferred therefrom,²⁸ I mean from the term ḥoblim, their repugnance for the Law and the repugnance of God for them. However, this meaning can only be derived from ḥoblim through changing the order of the “ḥa,” the “ba,” and the “lam.”²⁹ Now it says, within the context of this parable, to signify the notion of repugnance and disgust: And My soul became impatient of them, and their soul also loathed [boḥalah] Me.³⁰ Accordingly it changed the order of ḥabol³¹ and transformed it into baḥol.³² Through this method very strange things appear, which are likewise secrets, as in its dictum with regard to the Chariot:³³ brass and burnished and foot and calf and lightning, and in other passages. If you carefully examine each passage in your mind, they will become clear to you — after your attention has been aroused — from the gist of what has been set forth here.