antw. MDMD Chapter 49 Notes and Questions (2)

[David Morris]

>From: lorentzen-nicklaus at t-online.de (lorentzen-nicklaus)
>
>Prokopis Prokopidis schrieb:
> > > The word "golem" is used in the Bible
> > > (Psalms 19:16)
>
>   no such verse. meant here is probably psalms 139:16; but neither the 
>king james version nor the different german bibles in the house use the 
>g-word from the hebrew original: "thine eyes did see my substance, yet 
>being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in 
>continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them!"

Kai is correct about no g-word being in the bible, and this verse above has 
nothing to do with golems (not that you said it did).

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/6181/HebglossG.html
"The word golem in the sense of an unformed substance is to be found in 
Tehillim 139:16. In the Mishnah (Avot 5:9), golem is used in the sense of a 
stupid person, whose habit it is to interrupt the speech of his fellow man 
and be hasty to answer, without acknowledging the truth or admitting that he 
does not know what he does not know. The Mishnah uses golem as the opposite 
of a wise person when it says: There are seven characteristics of a golem, 
and seven of a wise man. The wise man does not speak in the presence of one 
who is greater than he in wisdom... The opposite is to be found in a stupid 
person.

In medieval Jewish legends, the word signified an automaton, an artifical 
man, created by kabbalistic methods, such as placing in its mouth a piece of 
paper inscribed with the divine name. When thus created, the automaton 
became the servant of its creator carrying out his orders, and at times 
turned into a monster of destruction. It turned into an inert mass when the 
divine name was removed. These legends always describe the golem as serving 
for the protection of the persecuted Jews of that period."

http://www.thehope.org/GOLEM2.htm
"Two phases may be discerned in the golem ritual as practiced by mediaeval 
Jewish mystics. The first drew on the principle of male-female polarity in 
forming a man out of earth and water; the second employed what were thought 
of as the fundamental agents of divine creativity the Hebrew letters to 
activate this magical being. These two phases are analysed here as engaging 
complementary aspects of the transcendent function, leading to 
self-realisation. The golem triggers a projection of self, through which the 
mystic encounters the creative essence of God."




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