Poetics of Cosmogonic Failure: A Zoharic Literary Formula for Beginning and Negation.
This article explores poetic aspects of narrating creation in the Zoharic literature, focusing specifically on the ʿad lo formula and its coupling with hysteron proteron (from later to earlier). It first provides a description of the genealogy of the ʿʿad lo formula in the Aramaic Palestinian piyyut...
| Published in: | Prooftexts Vol. 42; no. 3; pp. 80 - 120 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Indiana University Press
2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=195992107&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 195992107 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 02729601 29G jtl: Prooftexts issn: 02729601 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: 2026 vid: 42 iid: 3 pid: 211 pub: Indiana University Press artinfo: ui: 195992107 10.2979/ptx.00037 ppf: 80 ppct: 40 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 730KB tig: atl: Poetics of Cosmogonic Failure: A Zoharic Literary Formula for Beginning and Negation. aug: au: Feuerstein, Hillel affil: Bar-Ilan University and University of Hamburg su: Poetics Jewish literature Mythology Figures of speech Myth sug: subj: Poetics Jewish literature Mythology Figures of speech Myth ab: This article explores poetic aspects of narrating creation in the Zoharic literature, focusing specifically on the ʿad lo formula and its coupling with hysteron proteron (from later to earlier). It first provides a description of the genealogy of the ʿʿad lo formula in the Aramaic Palestinian piyyut and midrash literature and traces its renaissance in the Zohar. It then explores the unique features of the Zoharic stage. While earlier sources use ʿad lo to denote the temporal framing of the primordium, the Zohar employs it to present chaos, disorder, and demiurgical failure and struggle. The Zohar also uses ʿad lo in a novel way, flipping the temporal arrow of the cosmogonical timeline. The poetics of beginning as ending used in conjunction with ʿad lo produces textual disruptions that echo temporal and cosmological disruption. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Prooftexts is the property of Indiana University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Prooftexts holder: Indiana University Press dt: @attributes: year: 2026 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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