"Sonship" and Its Relevance for Jewish and Non-Jewish Mystical Literatures (Sonship and Jewish Mysticism ) (Book Review‪)‬

Key Words: Mysticism, Jewish Mysticism, Kabbalah, Sonship, Son of God, Son of Man Moshe Idel's book is a comprehensive account of a religious topos, which is common to both Jewish and Christian religious teachings, namely the figure of the Son of God. Yet, the emphasis of Idel's book is on the idea of "sonship" as extant in Jewish religious thought, beginning with the earliest written accounts of Jewish religious life from the Hebrew Bible. This book is also a historical account of the occurrence of the term "Son" (Ben) in all the key stages of Jewish religious literature, beginning with the story of the creation of Man from the Hebrew text of the Book of Genesis and ending with the latest contemporary Hasidic commentaries, which pertain to the idea of the "Son of God." Alongside with the Jewish sources cited and analyzed here, this book entails an outstanding gathering of texts from Biblical literatures parallel to the Jewish traditions, such as Christian and Gnostic literatures. What is also contributing to the understanding of the term Ben at the various stages of its developments is the various non-Biblical literature, such as Hellenistic and Arab Neo-Platonic and Neo-Aristotelian theological and philosophical literatures, Hermeticism, Sufism, Pythagoreanism, and astrology. Special attention is given to the theological and philosophical treatises of the Renaissance.