Jewish Evidence for Heavenly Intercession

1 And after some days my son Methuselah took a wife for his son Lamech, and she became pregnant by him and bore a son. 2 And his body was white as snow and red as the blooming of a rose, and the hair of his head and his long locks were white as wool, and his eyes beautiful. And when he opened his eyes, he lighted up the whole house like the sun, and the whole house was very bright. 3 And thereupon he arose in the hands of the midwife, opened his mouth, and conversed with the Lord of righteousness. 4 And his father Lamech was afraid of him and fled, and came to his father Methuselah. 5 And he said unto him: "I have begotten a strange son, diverse from and unlike man, and resembling the sons of the God of heaven; and his nature is different and he is not like us, and his eyes are as the rays of the sun, and his countenance is glorious. 6 And it seems to me that he is not sprung from me but from the angels, and I fear that in his days a wonder may be wrought on the earth. And now, my father, I am here to petition thee and implore thee that thou mayest go to Enoch, our father, and learn from him the truth, for his dwelling−place is amongst the angels."

7 And when Methuselah heard the words of his son, he came to me to the ends of the earth; for he had heard that I was there, and he cried aloud, and I heard his voice and I came to him. 8 And I said unto him: "Behold, here am I, my son, wherefore hast thou come to me?" 9 And he answered and said: "Because of a great cause of anxiety have I come to thee, and because of a disturbing vision have I approached. 10 And now, my father, hear me: unto Lamech my son there hath been born a son, the like of whom there is none, and his nature is not like mans nature, and the color of his body is whiter than snow and redder than the bloom of a rose, and the hair of his head is whiter than white wool, and his eyes are like the rays of the sun, and he opened his eyes and thereupon lighted up the whole house. 11 And he arose in the hands of the midwife, and opened his mouth and blessed the Lord of heaven. 12 And his father Lamech became afraid and fled to me, and did not believe that he was sprung from him, but that he was in the likeness of the angels of heaven; and behold I have come to thee that thou mayest make known to me the truth."

13 And I, Enoch, answered and said unto him: "The Lord will do a new thing on the earth, and this I have already seen in a vision, and make known to thee that in the generation of my father Jared some of the angels of heaven transgressed the word of the Lord. 14 And behold they commit sin and transgress the law, and have united themselves with women and commit sin with them, and have married some of them, and have begot children by them. 15 And they shall produce on the earth giants not according to the spirit, but according to the flesh, and there shall be a great punishment on the earth, and the earth shall be cleansed from all impurity. 16 Yea, there shall come a great destruction over the whole earth, and there shall be a deluge and a great destruction for one year. 17 And this son who has been born unto you shall be left on the earth, and his three children shall be saved with him: when all mankind that are on the earth shall die he and his sons shall be saved.

18 “And now make known to thy son Lamech that he who has been born is in truth his son, and call his name Noah; for he shall be left to you, and he and his sons shall be saved from the destruction which shall come upon the earth on account of all the sin and all the unrighteousness, which shall be consummated on the earth in his days. 19 And after that there shall be still more unrighteousness than that which was first consummated on the earth; for I know the mysteries of the holy ones; for He, the Lord, has showed me and informed me, and I have read in the heavenly tablets. 20 And I saw written on them that generation upon generation shall transgress, till a generation of righteousness arises, and transgression is destroyed and sin passes away from the earth, and all manner of good comes upon it. 21 And now, my son, go and make known to thy son Lamech that this son, which has been born, is in truth his son, and that is no lie." 22 And when Methuselah had heard the words of his father Enoch−for he had shown to him everything in secret−he returned and showed to him and called the name of that son Noah; for he will comfort the earth after all the destruction.

1 And in those days Noah saw the earth that it had sunk down and its destruction was nigh. 2 And he arose from thence and went to the ends of the earth, and cried aloud to his grandfather Enoch. 3 Noah said three times with an embittered voice: "Hear me, hear me, hear me." 4 And I said unto him: "Tell me what it is that is falling out on the earth that the earth is in such evil plight and shaken, lest perchance I shall perish with it?" 5 And thereupon there was a great commotion, on the earth, and a voice was heard from heaven, and I fell on my face. 5 And thereupon there was a great commotion, on the earth, and a voice was heard from heaven, and I fell on my face. 6 And Enoch my grandfather came and stood by me, and said unto me: "Why hast thou cried unto me with a bitter cry and weeping? 7 A command has gone forth from the presence of the Lord concerning those who dwell on the earth that their ruin is accomplished because they have learnt all the secrets of the angels, and all the violence of the Satans, and all their powers, the most secret ones. 8 And all the power of those who practice sorcery, and the power of witchcraft, and the power of those who make molten images. For the whole earth: And how silver is produced from the dust of the earth, and how soft metal originates in the earth. For lead and tin are not produced from the earth like the first: it is a fountain that produces them, and an angel stands therein, and that angel is preeminent." 9 And after that my grandfather Enoch took hold of me by my hand and raised me up, and said unto me: "Go, for I have asked the Lord of Spirits as touching this commotion on the earth.

10 And He said unto me: "Because of their unrighteousness their judgement has been determined upon and shall not be withheld by Me for ever. Because of the sorceries which they have searched out and learnt, the earth and those who dwell upon it shall be destroyed." 11 And these, they have no place of repentance for ever, because they have shown them what was hidden, and they are the damned: but as for thee, my son, the Lord of Spirits knows that thou art pure, and guiltless of this reproach concerning the secrets. 12 And He has destined thy name to be among the holy and will preserve thee amongst those who dwell on the earth. And has destined thy righteous seed both for kingship and for great honors, and from thy seed shall proceed a fountain of the righteous and holy without number for ever." 13 And after that he showed me the angels of punishment who are prepared to come and let loose all the powers of the waters which are beneath in the earth in order to bring judgement and destruction on all who dwell on the earth. 14 And the Lord of Spirits gave commandment to the angels who were going forth that they should not cause the waters to rise but should hold them in check; for those angels were over the powers of the waters. 15 And I went away from the presence of Enoch.

For the Master. Song of the holocaust of the seventh Sabbath on the sixteenth of the month.

Praise the most high God, O you high among all the gods of knowledge. Let the holy ones of the ‘gods’ sanctify the King of glory, who sanctifies by his holiness all his holy ones.

O Princes of the praises of all the ‘gods’, praise the God of majestic praises, For in the splendour of praises is the glory of His kingship.

In it are (contained) the praises of all the ‘gods’ together with the splendour of all [His] king[ship].

Exalt His exaltation on high, O ‘gods’, above the gods on high, and His glorious divinity above all the highest heights.

For He [is the God of gods], of all the Princes on high, and the King of king[s] of all the eternal councils.

By a discerning goodwill (expressed by) the words of His mouth a[ll the gods on high] come into being, at the opening of His lips, all the eternal spirits, by His discerning goodwill, all His creatures in their undertakings.

Exult, O you who exult [in his knowledge, with] an exultation among the wonderful ‘gods’; utter His glory with the tongue of all who utter knowledge; may His wonderful exultation be in the mouth of all who utter [His knowledge].

[For He] is the God of all who exult in everlasting knowledge, and the Judge through His might of all the spirits of understanding. Celebrate O all celebrating gods, the King of majesty, for all the gods of knowledge celebrate His glory, and all the spirits of righteousness celebrate His truth, and seek acceptance of their knowledge by the judgements of His mouth, and of their celebrations when His mighty hand executes (?) judgements of reward.

Sing to the God of power with an offering of the princely spirit, a song of divine joy, and a jubilation among all the holy, a wonderful song for eter[nal] rejoicing.

With these all the f[oundations of the hol]y of holies shall praise, the pillars bearing the highest abode, and all the corners of its structure.

Sing to the Go[d who is a]wesome in strength...

to extol together the splendid firmament, the supreme purity of [His] holy sanctuary.

[Praise] Him, O divine spirits, prai[sing for ever and] ever the firmament of the highest heavens, all... and its walls, a[l]l its [structure, its shape.

[The spi]rits of the hol[y] of holies, the living ‘gods’, [the spir]its of [et]ernal holiness above all the holy [ones];... marvellous marvel, majesty and beauty and marvel.

[Gl]ory is in the perfect light of knowledge... in all the marvellous sanctuaries.

The divine spirits surround the dwelling of the King of truth and righteousness; all its walls... (Geza Vermes’ translation)

הַנִּכְנָס לְבֵית הַכִּסֵּא, אוֹמֵר: ״הִתְכַּבְּדוּ מְכוּבָּדִים קְדוֹשִׁים מְשָׁרְתֵי עֶלְיוֹן, תְּנוּ כָּבוֹד לֵאלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, הַרְפּוּ מִמֶּנִּי עַד שֶׁאֶכָּנֵס וְאֶעֱשֶׂה רְצוֹנִי וְאָבֹא אֲלֵיכֶם״. אָמַר אַבָּיֵי: לָא לֵימָא אִינָשׁ הָכִי, דִּלְמָא שָׁבְקִי לֵיהּ וְאָזְלִי. אֶלָּא לֵימָא: ״שִׁמְרוּנִי שִׁמְרוּנִי, עִזְרוּנִי עִזְרוּנִי, סִמְכוּנִי סִמְכוּנִי, הַמְתִּינוּ לִי הַמְתִּינוּ לִי עַד שֶׁאֶכָּנֵס וְאֵצֵא, שֶׁכֵּן דַּרְכָּן שֶׁל בְּנֵי אָדָם״. כִּי נָפֵיק, אוֹמֵר: ״בָּרוּךְ... אֲשֶׁר יָצַר אֶת הָאָדָם בְּחׇכְמָה, וּבָרָא בּוֹ נְקָבִים נְקָבִים, חֲלָלִים חֲלָלִים, גָּלוּי וְיָדוּעַ לִפְנֵי כִּסֵּא כְּבוֹדֶךָ שֶׁאִם יִפָּתֵחַ אֶחָד מֵהֶם אוֹ אִם יִסָּתֵם אֶחָד מֵהֶם אִי אֶפְשָׁר לַעֲמוֹד לְפָנֶיךָ״.

One who enters a bathroom says to the angels who accompany him at all times: Be honored, honorable holy ones, servants of the One on High, give honor to the God of Israel, leave me until I enter and do my will and come back to you.

Abaye said: A person should not say this, lest they abandon him and go. Rather he should say: Guard me, guard me, help me, help me, support me, support me, wait for me, wait for me until I enter and come out, as this is the way of man. Upon exiting, one says: Blessed…Who formed man in wisdom, and created in him many orifices and cavities. It is revealed and known before the throne of Your glory that were one of them to be ruptured or blocked, it would be impossible to survive and stand before You.