ABSTRACT
MichaelLiebhasdrawnonresearchintotheoriginsofJewish mysticism,itsrelationshipwiththeapocalyptictraditionofSecondTemple JudaismanditsappropriationbyearlyChristians,tosuggestthattheongoingpracticeofvisionarymerkavahexpositionisnotsomethingconfined toJudaism.4ByreferencetosomelittleknownearlyChristianmaterial,he hasextendedthestudyfromtheoriginsoftheearlyChristianmystical traditionandtheinterpretationoftheSongofSongs,Ezekieland Revelation,downtoDante.Liebhasdrawnattentiontothecatalyticand creativepotentialofEzekielanditsabilitytopromptnewformulationsof whatisalreadyasuggestiveandmulti-facetedtext.Attheverycoreofthe merkavahtraditionisitspropensitytoassumenewforms.InLieb'sview, themerkavahgeneratesnewmeaning,newmodesofperception,thatare forevermultiplying,ofhermeneuticsoftransformationandvisionaryreenactment.Itisadynamicrepositoryofever-changingmeaningsthatare inscribedandre-inscribed;acircleofreciprocitythatoccursbetween hermeneutandtext.
