destroyer

In Jewish tradition

In Sefer Yetzirah, the destroyers are three of the twelve simple letters, set opposite the life-givers, in a picture of balanced opposing forces. In the prophets and Job, destroyers are armies sent to ruin a land or the powers of death that wait for a sick person.

Interpretation. Readers of Sefer Yetzirah take the friends, enemies, life-givers and destroyers as a teaching that the world is built from balanced opposites. The tradition reads the prophets' destroyers as agents God sends to punish a sinful city, who in turn may be removed.

Meaning

A person or thing that destroys or ruins something. tree →

Examples

• The Twelve stand as in warfare; three are friends, three are enemies; three are life givers; three are destroyers. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) tree →
• The Twelve stand as in warfare ; three are friends, three are enemies ; three are life givers ; three are destroyers. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) tree →
• There are twelve which are all the time at war; three of them produce love, and three hatred, three are animators and three destroyers. (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877) tree →
• Yea, his soul draweth near unto the pit, and his life to the destroyers. (Writings JOB.33.22, JPS 1917) tree →
• Thy children make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth from thee. (Prophets ISA.49.17, JPS 1917) tree →
• And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons; and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire. (Prophets JER.22.7, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

A record of the Judaism dictionary, written from the corpus.