To Kill a Foe

Unknown

17th Century

To kill a foe: write these twelve names on deerskin or calfskin parchment on Monday evening at the third or fourth hour, or at those times at night. And this is what you shall write:

He who gives forth vengeance will banish, destroy, annihilate, uproot, diminish, break, and decimate with anger, fury, and a great wrath So-and-so and any name that he might have from this day to that day with this great, almighty and awesome Name that is derived from the three verses of Exodus 14:19–21—NḤH HAA YRT SHAH RYY OWM LKB WSR YḤW LHḤ KWK WND and WAḤH, So-and-So is his name. And there should be neither for him nor for his name or his appointed minster any standing or hope, and may he have no kindness or favorable judgment drawn upon him. And I shall see the vengeance that I decree upon him and his body, that he should die in terrible sickness from this day until that day, without any delay or impediment. And upon him shall befall all that is written in the Torah regarding: The matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the sentence by the word of the holy ones (Daniel 4:14). And all of Israel was cleansed except for this man. God preserves all who love him, but the wicked He will destroy (Psalms 145:20), Evil shall slay the wicked (Psalms 34:22).

And afterwards, call out the person’s name and the excommunication decree, and excommunicate him as stated, and also excommunicate the above mentioned using these names and by mentioning this name: “YH YHW, Ahaviel, HY, HYW, Raḥmiel Hariel Galmuẓiya, Compassionate God, Natal Ḥamu, Rimat, Ai, Shem YH, Yakh, Dei’adi, Mai’amal, Naha. Blood shall be brought upon So-and-So Amen, selah.

Translated by
Levana
Chajes
.
Facing-page manuscript with illustration of fish and spiral design with Hebrew list below on right side, and illustrations of ram's head and bull's head with Hebrew lists below on left page.
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These illustrated pages are from a manuscript copy of Sefer goralot (Book of Lots), a treatise on geomancy, which was a method of divination popular in the medieval world. The text was attributed, incorrectly, to the twelfth-century biblical commentator and astrologer, Abraham Ibn Ezra. The manuscript includes many images related to the zodiac.

Credits

Unknown, To Kill a Foe, Ms. The National Library of Russia (St. Petersburg, Russia), Ms. EVR I 326, 3r, 17th Century, Ashkenazic script.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.

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