Zion Carried Away from Jerusalem

Illustration of Zion Carried Away from Jerusalem
Era
Kings and Prophets
Date
Reign of Solomon ○ Traditional
Reference
The Kebra Nagast 48:1-5

In the Kebra Nagast the sons of Israel's nobles, ordered to leave with Solomon's son, grieve most at leaving "our Lady Zion", the Tabernacle of the Law. Azariah, son of Zadok the priest, binds them by oath and proposes to take her. They pay a carpenter to make a wooden frame of her size. An angel then tells Azariah in a dream what sacrifice to offer and says God is removing Zion because Israel has angered him.

After the sacrifice the angel returns like a pillar of fire and opens the sanctuary. Azariah and three companions carry Zion out, leave the boards under her covering and hide her for seven days. She leaves the city on a wagon under dirty clothes. Jerusalem weeps without knowing why, and Solomon mourns that his glory has departed. Menyelek, whom these chapters call David, is not yet told.

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Did You Know?

1

Each of the nobles' sons gave Azariah ten didrachmas, one hundred and forty in all, to pay the carpenter for the wooden frame.

2

The carpenter built the frame from wood left over from the house of the sanctuary, believing it was for a raft.

3

The angel told Azariah to offer an ox that had never worn a yoke, with four yearling goats and four yearling sheep.

4

Azariah woke Elmeyas, Abesa and Makari, and the four found every door of the house of God standing open.

5

Zion was hidden in Azariah's house for seven days and seven nights, with lamps, incense and purple cloths around her.

Key Passage

Zion Carried Away from Jerusalem

The Kebra Nagast 48:1-5

And behold, the Angel of the Lord appeared again to Azaryas and he stood up above him like a pillar of fire, and he fill...

A1nd behold, the Angel of the Lord appeared again to Azaryas and he stood up above him like a pillar of fire, and he filled the house with his light. And he raised up Azaryas and said unto him, " Stand up, be strong, and rouse up thy brother 'Elmeyas, and 'Abesa, and Makari, and take the pieces of wood and I will open for thee the doors of the sanctuary.

2 And take thou the Tabernacle of the Law of God, and thou shalt carry it without trouble and discomfort. And I, inasmuch as I have been commanded by God to be with it for ever, will be thy guide when thou shalt carry it away." 3 And Azaryas rose up straightway, and woke up the three men his brethren, and they took the pieces of wood, and went into the house of God — now they found all the doors open, both those that were outside and those that were inside — to the actual place where Azaryas found Zion, the Tabernacle of the Law of God; and it was taken away by them forthwith, in the twinkling of an eye, the Angel of the Lord being present and directing. 4 And had it not been that God willed it Zion could not have been taken away forthwith. And the four of them carried Zion away, and they brought it into the house of Azaryas, and they went back into the house of God, and they set the pieces of wood on the place where Zion had been, and they covered them over with the covering of Zion, and they shut the doors, and went back to their houses. 5 And they took lamps and set them in the place where [Zion] was hidden, and they sacrificed the sheep thereto, and burned offerings of incense thereto, and they spread purple cloths over it and set it in a secret place for seven days and seven nights.

Read full chapter: The Kebra Nagast 48 →

Did You Know?

1

Each of the nobles' sons gave Azariah ten didrachmas, one hundred and forty in all, to pay the carpenter for the wooden frame.

2

The carpenter built the frame from wood left over from the house of the sanctuary, believing it was for a raft.

3

The angel told Azariah to offer an ox that had never worn a yoke, with four yearling goats and four yearling sheep.

4

Azariah woke Elmeyas, Abesa and Makari, and the four found every door of the house of God standing open.

5

Zion was hidden in Azariah's house for seven days and seven nights, with lamps, incense and purple cloths around her.

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