Zohar: Genesis: Chapter LVII. The Mystery of the Bow in the Cloud

This is a passage of Kabbalistic biblical commentary, almost certainly drawn from the Zohar or a closely related work in the Merkabah (divine chariot) mystical tradition, presented as teachings attributed to Rabbi Simeon. Its central argument is that the rainbow God set in the clouds after Noah's flood (Genesis 9) is not a meteorological novelty but a symbol of the eternal covenant, identified with the celestial light of the Shekhinah and with the figure of the "Just Man" — a role embodied first by Noah and then by Joseph. The text interprets Ezekiel's vision of the divine chariot (Merkabah) in detail, describing four cherubic beings (lion, ox, eagle, man) who support a sapphire-throne firmament, whose colors correspond to the four letters of the divine name YHVH and whose light refracts into the rainbow's twelve hues. A distinctive and concrete claim is that gazing directly at a rainbow is forbidden because it profanes the Shekhinah, of which the rainbow is an earthly image, just as archangels avert their eyes before God. The passage also identifies the "foundation stone" (shethiya) — the center of the world and basis of Jerusalem's Holy of Holies — with the sapphire throne above the cherubim, linking it to Jacob's pillow at Bethel and to the hierarchy of written over oral law. Throughout, the text moves between scriptural exegesis and esoteric cosmology, treating visible phenomena as layered symbols accessible only to initiates of hidden wisdom.

Zohar: Genesis: Chapter LVII. The Mystery of the Bow in the Cloud

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