On the Nature and Origin of the Doctrine of Emanation among the Kabbalists

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What has been presented so far—in which, as is self-evident, my aim was merely a historical exposition and not a judgment of the ideas—will, I hope, demonstrate as accurately as it does clearly and completely, how and to what extent the Kabbalists Jewish mystics who sought to understand the hidden nature of God and the universe. teach an emanation original: "Emanation"; the belief that the universe flows out of the Divine, rather than being created out of nothing. or descent of all things from God.

We now ask, secondly:

Second Question.

How does this doctrine of emanation relate both to the fundamental concepts of the Bible and to the philosophies or systems of light and religion belonging to those nations among whom the Hebrews lived since the destruction of their first Temple, and among whom they maintained their most famous schools? The author is referring to the period after the Babylonian Exile (586 BCE), suggesting that Jewish thought may have been influenced by Persian (Zoroastrian) or Greek ideas.

The essential content of the Kabbalists' system of emanation consists of the following propositions:

I. God is by His nature light, spirit, and life; and according to this triple relationship—which is fundamentally only one—He is also the essence of all beings,