On the day when the Messiah, descendant of David, comes

Unknown

7th Century

On the day when the Messiah, descendant of David, comes to the people which has been oppressed,

these signs will be seen; they will be brought out into the universe:

Earth and heaven will waste away.

The sun and the moon will undergo eclipses.

The earth’s inhabitants will be silent.

The king of the West and the king of the East¹ will crush each other,

and the troops of the king of the West will become mighty in the land.

And a king will go forth from the land of Joktan, and his camps will become mighty in the land.

All the earth’s inhabitants will be judged strictly.

The heavens will pour dirt on the earth,

and winds will be brought out onto the land,

and Gog and Magog will strike one another,

and they will ignite fear in the heart of the nations.

Israel will be cleansed of all their sins,

and no longer will they be kept away from the House of Prayer.²

Blessings and consolation will be poured out upon them,

and they will be inscribed in the Book of Life.

Kings will be gone from the land of Edom,³

and the inhabitants of Antioch will rebel and make peace,⁴

and Ma‘azya [Tiberias] and Samaria will be consoled.

Edomites and Ishmaelites will fght in the Valley of Acre,

until the horses are submerged in blood and confounded.

Gaza and its environs will be pelted,

Ascalon and Ashdod will be confounded,

and Israel will go forth and advance from their city [Jerusalem]. [ . . . ]

Then Michael will call out in God’s name,

and he will speak to all Israel.

In the fifth year will come Menahem son of Ammiel,

and he will say: “I am the Messiah, descendant of Joseph son of Israel,”

and he will gore the ends of the earth at God’s order,

and they are the myriads of Ephraim, as [God] has willed,

and they are the thousands of Manasseh, whom God has chosen.

They will ascend to Jerusalem, and all Israel will assemble around him,

and he will ofer a sacrifice, and God will give him favor,

and all Israel will be registered in accordance with their tribes.

Then Hermalius⁵ will come and pierce God’s Messiah. [ . . . ]

Jacob will be glad, and Israel will rejoice,

and all the nations will be like nought,

and he will judge them, eye to eye.

They will walk before him and be like nought.

Then the hills will fow with milk, and all streams in Judah will fow with water,

and all will see the Lord’s presence [kavod], eye to eye.

And the descendant of David will judge, but not according to what his eyes see.

Translated by Gabriel Wasserman.

Notes

[Apparently the Roman-Byzantine emperor and the head of the Muslim armies.–Trans.]

[The Temple.–Trans.]

[I.e., the Roman Empire.–Trans.]

[Apparently: rebel against the Romans, and make peace with the Jews.–Trans.]

[TheequivalentoftheAntichristinJewisheschatology; the name more often is spelled “Armilos.”–Trans.]

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.

On the day when the Messiah, descendant of David, comes

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On the day when the Messiah, descendant of David, comes

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