The Talmudic Sage Who Saw Two Gods in Heaven
The story of the first Jewish heretic
Most people have heard of Ezekiel’s vision of the divine chariot—the four beasts, the wheels within wheels, the heavenly throne. But there is another story, short and cryptic, found in the later Talmudic literature. It’s less well known, but no less important—and perhaps even more essential—for understanding Jewish mysticism: the tale of the Four Who Entered the Pardes (Orchard, in Hebrew).
The Four Who Entered the Pardes
The Talmud tells the story as follows:
“Four entered the Pardes: Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Other (Acher, in Hebrew), and Rabbi Akiva.
Ben Azzai peeked and died.
Ben Zoma peeked and was harmed.
Other cut the shoots.
And Rabbi Akiva entered in peace and left in peace.”
The Pardes here is not an orchard in the everyday sense. The word originates in Persian and eventually made its way into Latin and later to English as “paradise.” This is Dante’s final destination in his Divina Commedia. In the world of the early rabbinic sages, it referred to a royal garden, a king’s palace—and most of all, the dwelling place of God.
Entering the Pardes is a spiritual journey—an ascent into the heavens, perhaps mystical and perhaps real. But of the four who undertook it, only one, Rabbi Akiva, knew how to return whole.
Our focus here is on the figure known as “Acher”—literally, “the Other”—whose real name was Elisha ben Avuya. He is the one who “cut the shoots.” But first, let’s briefly consider the other three:
Ben Azzai “peeked and died.” Not as a punishment, but because he was utterly righteous. It is as if God gathered him to Himself.
Ben Zoma “peeked and was harmed”—in other words, he went mad. The sages explain this with the verse, “If you find honey, eat only as much as you need.” He didn’t know when to stop. He failed to understand when it was time to leave the upper worlds and return to the earthly one, alongside his fellow human beings.
Rabbi Akiva—alone—“entered in peace and left in peace.” He’s also the one who warned the others in advance: “When you come to the place of pure marble stones, do not say: ‘Water, water.’” That is, in the upper worlds, even a mistaken word can harm you.
Who Was the “Other”?
Elisha ben Avuya was a sharp-minded scholar, a brilliant interpreter, one of the greatest sages of his generation. And yet, the Talmud chooses to refer to him by a chilling name: “Acher,” the Other.
He is considered the first heretic in Jewish tradition. A man who entered the king’s palace and emerged from it terribly distorted. He is the one who “cut the shoots”—a phrase that, at its core, implies: he offended the honor of the Gardener, of God Himself.
What was his great sin?
There are several versions.
According to one, he brought heretical books (probably Greek or Persian ones) into the Jewish study hall of the Yeshiva. Like the Greek Socrates, he “corrupted the youth.” Socrates, recall, was accused of introducing foreign gods into Athens (I wrote about it here). Elisha may have done something similar. That version even suggests he killed students—a symbolic way (maybe?) of describing the destruction of tradition and Torah learning.
But there is another version, more mysterious, hinted at in the story of the Pardes.
Two Government Branches in Heaven
Out of the Pardes story emerged the literature of the Hekhalot (Heavenly Palaces) and the Merkavah (Divine Chariot)—a rich body of mystical texts. In one of them, 3 Enoch, the angel Metatron—formerly the biblical Enoch, transformed into an angel—describes a traumatic encounter:
“When Elisha ben Avuya came to look at the visions of the chariot and set his eyes upon me,
he became terrified and trembled when he saw me sitting on a throne like a king,
with ministering angels standing around me like servants,
and the princes of kingdoms binding crowns upon me.
At that moment, he opened his mouth and said:
‘Surely there are two powers in heaven.’
Immediately a heavenly voice went forth and said:
‘Return, O wayward children—except for Other.’
At that moment, the angel Anaphiel YHWH came at the command of the Holy One
with sixty lashes of fiery light
and forced me to stand upon my feet.”
What happened here?
Elisha, who ascended to the Pardes, sees Metatron seated on a throne, as if he were a king. Around him are angels, princes of nations, binding crowns. The vision is breathtaking—and the confusion is fatal. Elisha wonders: could it be that there is another power in heaven? Another god? A partner to the divine?
His conclusion—“There are two powers in heaven”—is heresy. But it’s not born of malice; it’s a misunderstanding. Not rebellion, but misinterpretation. Yet in the upper realms, facing the mystery of God, even such an error can be devastating.
The response is swift: a heavenly voice banishes him—not by name, but by his new title: “Acher/Other.”
Immediately afterward, another angel is dispatched to strike Metatron with sixty lashes of fire or light, forcing him to stand—so he will no longer appear as a king. For there can be no second ruler on the throne.
What Was Elisha’s Sin?
Not that he was wicked. Not that he consciously invented a new doctrine. His sin was that he became confused. At the heart of the upper reality, when one stands before the secret of God, a mistake in interpretation can become heresy.
Elisha didn’t just see Metatron as a divine being—he equated him with God. In doing so, he violated the unity of God, the core principle of Jewish faith.
In a much later age, the Jewish Kabbalists of Medieval Europe would come close to the same danger (and would even be accused of the same heresy). But they lived in a very different era and approached the matter in a far more complex and nuanced way. They Would speak of the Hidden God and the God of the ten Sefirot, which were one of the same.
Fascinating. I hope you will do an extension of this post with the story of the Jewish Kabbalists.
You are a marvelous guide through the mystery of literature such as this.