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Golem

Goliath

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

36

chende Rechtswissenschaft, viii. 406-423; Der

Chatib bei den Alten Araborn, in

W.

Z. K. M.

vi. 97-102; Der

Divan

des Garwal b. Aus

Al-

Huteja,"

in Z. D. M. G.

xlvi.

1-53, 173-225, 471-

527';

xlvii.

43-85, 163-201; Le

Denombrement

des

Sectes

Mohamdtanes,"

in Re v. de l'Histoire des

Religions, xxvi. 129-137; La Notion do la

Saklna

chez les Mohametans, inib. xxviii. 1-13; "Sftlihb.

'Abd

al-Kuddfls

und das

Zindikthum Wifhrend

der

RegierungdesChalifenAl-Mahdi,"in"Transactions

of the Congress of Oriental Languages, 1892, ii.

104-129; Mohammedan Propaganda in Am erica

(Hungarian), in Budapesti Szemle,

lxxix.

45-60;

Sa'd b.MansfiribnKammuna's Abhandlunguber

die

Seele,"

in

"

Steinschneider Festschrift, pp . 110-

114;

"

Neue Materialien zur Litteratur des Ueber-

lieferungswesens bei den

Muhammedanern,"

in Z.

D. M. G. 1. 465-506; Ueber eine

Formel

in der

Judischen Responsenlitteratur und in den

Muham-

medanischen FetwaV

in Z. D. M. G. .

lxxx.

645-652; Die Sabbathinstitution im Islam, in

Kaufmann

Gedenkbuch,"

pp. 86-102; Proben

Muhammedanischer Polemik Gegen den Talmud,

in Kobak's

"

Jeschurun,

viii.

76, ix. 18; Ibn Hud,

the Muhammedan Mystic, and the Jew s of Damas

cus, in J . Q. R. vi. 218; Bemerkungen zur

Neuhebraischen

Poesie, in ib xiv. 719; Sa'id b.

Hasan d'Alexandrie, in R. E. J. xxxi. 1; Me

langes

Jud^o-Arabes,"

inib.

xliii. 1, xliv.

63,

xiv.

1,

xlvii. 41.

BIBLIOGRAPHY : Brockhaus,

Konversations-Lexikon; Meyers

Konversations-Lexikon; Pierer, Universal-Lexlkon

;

Gu-

bernatis, IHctionnaire International; Pallas Lex.; La

Grande EncyclopMie.

s. M.

Sc.

GOLEM (D^J) :

This word occurs only once in

the Bible, in Ps. cxxxix. 16, where it means em

bryo. In tradition everything that is in a state of

incompletion, everything not fully formed, as a

needle without the eye, is designated as

" golem

("Aruch Completum, ed.Kohut,ii. 297). Awoman

is golem

.so

long as she has not conceived (Sanh.

22b; comp. Shab. 52b, 77b; Sanh. 95a; Hul. 25a;

Abot y. 6; Sifre, Num. 158). God, father, and

mother take part in the creation of the

child:

the

skeleton and brain are derived

from

the

father;

the

skin and muscles from the mother; the senses from

God. God forms the child from the

Embryo

seed, puttin g the soul into it. If the

male seed is emitted first, the child is

of the male

sex;

otherwise it is of the

female

sex

(Nid. 31a). Although God impresses all men with

the seal of Adam, there is no resemblance between

any two of them (Sanh. 37a).

In the womb the navel is first formed, and from

this roots spread out, until the child is fully devel

oped. According to another opinion the head is

first developed. The two eyes and the two nostrils

of the embryo resemble the eyes of a fly; the aper

ture of the mouth is like hair (or a barleycorn). R.

Jonathan says: " Thetwo arms are like two pieces

of string; the other members are combined in a

mass "

(Yer. Nid.

50d;

comp. Nid.

25a;

Sotah 45b).

Women that eat much mustard give birth to glut

tonous

children;

those that eat many

dates,

to blear-

eyed

children;

those tha t eat much small fish, chil

dren with unsteady eyes; those that eat clay,

naughty children; those that drink beer, dark-

skinnedchildren;those that eat much

Ca use s meat and drink much wine, healthy

Influencing

children;

those that eat many eggs,

th e

Embryo,

children with

large eyes; those

that

eat

much large fish, beautiful children;

those that eat much celery or parsley, children with

fine complexions; those tha t eat oleander, well-nour

ished children; those that eat paradise-apples, fra

grant children

(Ket.

61a). The same Babylonian

amora, of the fourth century, also indicates why

epileptic and otherwise defective children are born

(Brecher, Das Transcendentale, Magie und Ma-

gische

Heilarten

im Talmud," pp. 174

et seq.). Mor

not physical, reasons are given as the principal fac

tors in the birth of healthy or sickly children. De

cent behavior produces male children

(Sheb.

18b;

comp. Nid. 71a), who are also regularly produced

under certain conditions ('Er. 100b; B.

B.

10b; Nid.

31a, b). A dwarf should not marry a dwarf (Bek.

46a). Other references to the embryo are found in

Nid. 15a, 17a, 31b, 37b, 38a, 45b, 66a; Bezah 7a;

Bek. 44b-45a; Hul. 127a; Ned. 20a; Pes. 112a, and

passim Unfounded hatred causes abortion and the

death of the child (Shab. 32b).

The imagination of the ancient Israelites fre

quently turned to the birth of the first man, who

was formed of dust and not born of woman. A

principal passage

reads as follows: " How was Adam

created? In the first hour his dust was collected;

in the second his

form

was

created;

in the third he

became a shapeless mass [golem]; in the fourth his

members were joined; in the fifth his apertures

opened; in the sixth he received his soul; in the

seventhhestood up on his feet; in the eighth Eve

was associated with

him;

in the ninth

he

was trans

ferred to paradise; in the tenthhe heard God's com

mand

;

in the eleventh

he sinned;

in the

twelfth he

was driven from Eden, in order that Ps. xlix. 13

might be

fulfilled"

(Ab. R . N. ed.

Adam

Schechter,

Text A, i.

5;

comp. Pesik.

as Golem . R. ed. Friedmann, 187b, and note

7;

Kohut, in Z. D. M. G. xxv. 13).

God created Adam as a

golem; he lay supine,

reach

ing from one end of the world to the other, from

the earth to the firmam ent (Hag.

12a;

comp. Gen.

R. viii., xiv., and xxiv.;

JEW. ENCYC.

i. 175).

The

Gnostics, following

Irenams,

also taug ht that Adam

was immensely long and broad, and crawled over

the earth (Hilgenfeld, Die JUdische Apokalyptik,

p. 244; comp. Kohut, I.e.xxv. 87, note 1). All-

beings were created in their natural size and withI

their full measure of intelligence, as was Adam

(R.

H.11a). According to another tradition Adamwas

only one hundred ells high (B.

B.

75a); according

to

a Mohammedan legend, only sixty

ells

(Kohut,;

I.e.

xxv. 75, note 5; the number

"sixty" indicates

Babylonian influence). When

he

hid from the face j

of God, six

things were

taken

from him,

one of

these

j

being his size, which, however, will be restored

to i

him in the Messianic time (Gen. R. xi i.; Num.R. j

xiii.; Kohut,I.e.xxv.

76,

note

1; 91,

note 3). Other

conceptions, for instance, that Adam was createda

hermaphrodite (see ANDROGYNOS), or with two

faces (DIBIDDBH= dnrpdoun-oc; Gen. R . viii. 7),

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7 THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Golem

Goliath

long to the literature of GNOSTICISM. For similar

views, after Plato and Philo, see

Freudcnthal,

"Hellenistische

Studien, p. 69 (see ADAM).

BIBLIOGRAPHY: G. Brecher,Das Transeendentale, Magie

undMagische Heilarten im Talmud,Vienna, 1850; A. Ko

hut,Die Talmudisch-Midraschische Adamssage in Ihrer

RUckbeziehung auf die Persiscne Yima- und Meshiasagc,

inZ D.M.G.xxv. 59-94; M. Grunbaum,Neue Beitr ge zur

Semitischen Sagenkunde,

pp. 54

etseq.,

Leyden, 1893; JEW.ENCYC i. 174-175;

A.

Hilgenfeld,

Die JUdische Apokalyptik,

Jena, 1857.

E.

C L. B.

In

Medieval

Times:

In the Middle Ages

arose the belief in

the

possibility of infusing

life

into a clay or wooden figure of a human being,

which figure was termed go lem by writers of

the eighteenth century. The golem grew in size,

and could carry any message or obey mechanically

any order of its master. It was supposed to be

created by the aid of the Sefer Yezirah, that is,

by a combination of letters

forming

a

" Shem "

(any

oneof the names of God). TheShemwas written

on

a piece of paper and inserted either in the

mouth

or in the forehead of the golem, thus bringing it

into life and action. Solomon ibn Gabirol is said to

have created a maid servant by this means. The

king, informed of this, desired to punish him, but

Ibn Gabirol showed that his creature was not a real

being by restoring every one of its p arts to its origi

nal form.

Elijah of Chelm, in the middle of the sixteenth

century, was the first person credited with having

made a golem with a Shem, for which reason he

was known as a Ba 'al Shem. It is said to have

grown to be a monster (resembling that of Franken

stein), which the rabbi feared might destroy the

world. Finally he extracted the Shem from the

forehead of his golem, which returned to dust

(Azulai,"Shemha-Gedolim,"

i., No. 163). Elijah's

grandson, known as the

"hakam

Zebi,

was so

con

vinced of the truth of this that he raised the ques

tion as to whether a golem could be counted as one

in a " minyan " (quorum; Responsa,

No.

93,

Amster

dam, 1712; Baer Heteb to Shulhan 'Aruk, Orah

Hayyim, 55,

1). The best-known golem was that

of Judah Low b. Bezaleel, or the

Golemof " hoheRabbiLow,"of P rague(endof

Hohe

16th cent.), who used his golem as a

Rab bi Low. servant on week-days, and extracted

the Shem from the golem's mouth

every Friday

afternoon,

so as to let it rest on Sabbath. Once the rabbi forgot to extract the Shem,

and feared that the golem would desecrate the Sab

bath. He pursued the golem and caught it in front

of the synagogue, just before Sabbath began, and

hurriedly extracted the Shem, whereupon the golem

fell in pieces; its remains are said to be still among

thedebris in the atticof the synagogue. RabbiLO w

is credited with having performed similar wonders

before Rudolph I I. ( Sipp urim , p. 52; comp. Gans,

"Zemah

Dawid, p. 46a,

Frankfort-on-the-Main,

1692). A legend connected with his golem is given

in German verse by Gustav Philippson in

"Allg.

Zeit. des Jud." 1841,No.44(abridged in"Sulamith,

viii. 254; translated into Hebrew in

"KokebeYiz-hak,"

No. 28, p. 75, Vienna, 1862).

It is sometimes alleged that Elijah of Wilna also

made a golem, and the

Hasidim

claim the same for

Israel Ba'al Shem-Tob, but apparently the claims

are based on the similarity in the one case of the

name"Elijah" and in the other of the appellation

"

Ba 'al Shem

"

to

the

name and appellation of the

rabbi of Chelm. The last golem is attributed to R.

Davidl

Jaffe,

rabbi in

Dorhiczyn,

in the government

of Grodno, Russia (about1800). This golem, unlike

that of R.

LOw,

was not supposed to rest on Sab

bath. Indeed, it appears tha t it was created only

for the purpose of replacing

the

Sabbath goy in

heating the ovens of Jews on winter Sabbaths. All

orders to make fires were given to the golem on

Friday, which

he

executed promptly but

mechanic

ally the next day. In one case a slight error in an

order to the golem caused a conflagration that des

troyed the whole town.

From this story it

becomes probable

tha t the whole

of the golem legend is in some way a reflex of

the medieval legends about Vergil, who was cred

ited with the power of making a statue move and

speak and do his will. His disciple once gave

orders which, strictly carried out, resulted in his

destruction. The statue of Vergil saved an adul

teress, just as did the golem of R.

L8w

in Philipp-

son'sabove-mentioned

poem (J. A. Tunison, Mas

ter Virgil, p. 145, Cincinnati, 1888).

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Hct-3fa00ttl, 1867, Supplement No. 43;

Pasche-

les, Sippurim, pp. 51-52, Prague, 1870; Rubin, Ma'ase

Ta'atuim, p. 117, Vienna,

1887;

Tendlau,Sagen und Le-

uenden der JUdischen Vorzeit.

j.

J. D. E.

GOLGOTHA

(literally, the skull ): Locality

mentioned in the New Testament as the scene of

Jesus' execution

(Matt,

xxvii. 33 and parallels).

The name is an Aramaic emphatic state, and corre

sponds to the Hebrewroi?i. In the Greek trans

literation of

the Gospels the " 1"

is elided except in one

manuscript (Codex Bezse); Golgotha " isthe proper

form. It was outside the city wall (John xix. 20),

near a tomb, a gate, and a road, and in a promi

nent position (Mark xv. 29, 40; John xix. 20,

41). Twoplaces answer to this description:(1) The

Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which

is

identified by

tradition with

Golgotha;

it lay beyond the second

wall and was near tombs and a road. A temple of

Venus was erected on the

site;

and

from

the anal

ogy of

the

temple of Zeus, which was built on the

site of the Second Temple, this seems to imply that

it was once a sacred spo t. (2) A skull-shaped rock

above the grotto of Jeremiah, about which there is

a Jewish tradition that it was the place of stoning.

The name does not occur in Talmudic literature.

See also ADAM.

BIBLIOGRAPHY :

A.

McGrigor,

inEncyclopaedia Britannica,

s.v.

Sepulchre, Holy;

Cheyne and Black,

Encyc.

Biol.

s.v.

B.

C.

J

GOLI TH

:

A Philistine giant of Gath (I Sam.

xvii.4). The name "Goliath" isprobably connected

with the Assyro-Babylonian

" Guzali" = "

running,

ravaging spirits, des troye rs (Jastrow, Religion

of Assyria and Babylon, p. 500; Muss-Arnolt,

Concise Dictionary,

s.v.

The Throne-Carriers ;

Delitzsch,

"

Assyrisches Handworterb. s.v.).

Biblical Data:

Goliath was the champion of

the Philistines, who had encamped between Shochoh

and Azekah against Saul and the men of Israel ar

rayed for

battle in the valley

of

Elah.

He is described