THE TEN SIGNS

This text was originally published by Michael Higger, Halakhot va-aggadot (New York: The Jewish
Theological Seminary, 1933), 125-30 and then reprinted by Yehudah Even-Shmuel, Midreshey ge’ullah
(2d ed.; Jerusalem: Mosad Bialik, 1954), 315-17; see also his textual notes on p. 425. A variant version of
this work is attested in T-S A45.8 fol. 1, a photograph of which is published by Simon Hopkins, A
Miscellany of Literary Pieces from the Cambridge Genizah Collections: A Catalogue and Selection of
Texts in the Taylor-Schechter Collection, Old Series, Box A45 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Library,
1978), 16. This fragment is also translated below. Note also the text entitled ‘Ten Signs’ found in the
anthology Ma‘asiyot (Constantinople: Astruq de Toulon, 1519), 34a-35a.

Ten signs will transpire in the world prior to the End

The first sign: the Holy One, blessed be He, will send three angels out in three directions in the world,
and they will promulgate atheism. They will make themselves appear to human beings as if they serve
Him, but in fact they do not and they will subjugate all creatures. But at the End of Days all the gentile
nations will renounce their native religions, as it is written: ‘and the idols will be completely destroyed,’
and scripture states: ‘and the idols will totally vanish’. This will happen because the Holy One, blessed be
He, will manifest troubles in the world, each one different from the other.

The second sign: the Holy One, blessed be He, will make the sun emerge from its sheath. Every day He
will scorch with it one million people from among the nations until all the nations begin weeping and
saying: ‘Woe is us! Where will we go? To where might we flee?’ They will dig down in all the caverns in
the earth in order to find a cool breeze for themselves, as scripture states: ‘they will enter rocky caves’,
and one will say to the other: ‘Go inside the rock! Hide yourself in the dirt!’ Malachi prophesied about
that sun: ‘Behold, the day comes burning like an oven’, but that sun will be medicinal for Israel, as it is
said: ‘O those who revere My name, a sun of righteousness will rise for you, and it will heal you with its
wings’. Balaam the wicked also prophesied about those troubles and said: ‘Woe to whoever is alive
when God brings it about!’

The third sign: the Holy One, blessed be He, will rain a dew of blood for three days, but it will appear to
the nations of the world to be a dew of water. They will drink of it and die. Moreover, some wicked ones
among Israel will also drink of it and die, whereas others who are wavering in their faith will fall ill. The
world will experience great distress during those three days, as scripture says: ‘I will place portents in
the heavens and on earth: blood, fire, and columns of smoke’.

The fourth sign: the Holy One, blessed be He, will rain a dew of healing for three days and three nights—
in order to counteract the effects of the blood—and all those who were wavering will drink of it, and
those who had become ill will be cured, as scripture states: ‘I will be like dew for Israel; he will bloom
like the lily’.

The fifth sign: a ruler shall arise in Rome, and he will devastate large areas. He will capture Egypt, as
scripture affirms: ‘he will stretch his hand out against the north’. He will turn his anger upon Israel,
laying a heavy tax upon them, and he will seek to make them perish from the world, as scripture states:
‘he will turn his faces toward the strong-holds of his land’: the term ‘strong-holds’ signifies those among
Israel who are strong among the nations, and ‘his faces’ signifies his anger and his wrath which he will
direct against them.

The sixth sign: the Holy One, blessed be He, will
produce at that time the Messiah of the lineage
of Joseph, whose name is Nehemiah ben
Hushiel. He will be accompanied by warriors
‘from the descendants of Zerah the son of
Judah’. He will come with all the forces of Israel
who are in those places and fight a battle with
the king of Edom and those rulers allied with
him. He will kill the king of Edom and the
remainder of the latter’s army will flee. He will
approach Jerusalem and capture it, and all
Israel will hear of this and gather themselves to
him. The king of Egypt will conclude a peace
treaty with him. He will kill all the nations who
are in the environment of Jerusalem: all the
remaining nations will hear of this, and a great
fear will overcome them.
The seventh sign: Armilos will emerge from that
stone statue of a woman which is in Rome. They
say about him that the stone will give birth to
him. He will be twelve cubits tall and two cubits
wide, and there will be between his eyes a
space equaling one span. He is the Messiah of
the descendants of Esau. He will gather all the
nations, and then say to the descendants of
Esau: ‘Bring to me the Torah which I gave you [.
. .].’ All Israel will suddenly be confused, but
Nehemiah b. Hushiel will arise, he and thirty
warriors with weapons concealed beneath their
garments, and they will take a Torah scroll and
bring it to him. They will read out before him:
‘You shall have no other gods before Me!’ He
will say to them: ‘This is not my Torah at all!’
Nehemiah will say to him: ‘You are no deity,
only Satan!’ He will quickly flee, but he will
command his servants, saying, ‘Seize him and
hang him!’ Nevertheless he will effect his
escape and fight a battle with him and kill a
large number of them. Then the wrath of
Armilos will intensify, and he will assemble all
the nations and come to do battle with Israel
‘between the seas and the beautiful holy
mountain’. Israel will effect a great slaughter
among them, but he will kill the Messiah, and
when Israel perceives that the Messiah has
been slain, their courage will melt away and
they will flee. The world will experience great
trouble. They will hide themselves for twenty-
five days in caves and in pits, and the rest will
lock themselves within Jerusalem. He will turn
toward her to wage war and destroy it for the
second time, but he will not succeed in doing
so.

The eighth sign: ‘at that time the great angelic

leader Michael will arise’, and at that time Elijah
will come along with the Messiah of the lineage
of David in order to fulfill what scripture has
said: ‘he shall turn the heart of the fathers to
the sons, and the heart of the sons to the
fathers’. The Messiah will not need to wage
battle: he will only have to fix his eyes on
Armilos in order to exterminate him from the
world, as scripture states: ‘he will slay the
wicked one with the breath of his mouth’.

The ninth sign: the Messiah will request of the

Holy One, blessed be He, that He resurrect the
dead. The Messiah of the lineage of Joseph will
be the first of all those who are brought back to
life, and he will become the emissary of the
Messiah of the lineage of David. He will send
him into all the lands wherein Israel dwells, and
they will be gathered together from every
corner of the earth. Then he will send him
beyond the rivers of Cush, and he will lead forth
the lost ten tribes. He will also bring out the
Temple vessels from Rome. In every place
where the Messiah of the lineage of Joseph
goes which contains Israelite dead, he will
resurrect them and bring all of them with him,
as scripture says: ‘behold, these will come from
afar, and behold, these from the north and from
the west, and these from the land of Syene’.

The following somewhat variant lines render T-S
A45.8 fol. 1 based on the present author’s
transcription of the photograph published by
Hopkins, Miscellany, 16. The fragment
commences toward the end of the sixth sign,
beginning with the word yivrehu.
[. . .] they will flee before him. He will enter
Egypt and capture it, and he will kill all the
gentile nations in the vicinity of Jerusalem. All
the nations will hear about this, and fear and
dread will fall upon them.
The seventh sign: Armilos the Satan will emerge has come and been killed. There is no longer
from the stone statue that is in Rome. They say any redemption for us in the wilderness.’ Many
with regard to him that the stone will give birth of these will immediately commit apostasy and
to him. He will be twelve cubits long, and become joined with the gentile nations. But the
between his two eyes is the distance of a span. gentile nations will slay them nevertheless, as
He is the Messiah of the party of Esau. He will scripture foresees: ‘they will kill with the sword
assemble all the nations and say to them: ‘I am all of those among My people who commit sin’.
God,’ and all the nations will believe him. He
will say to the party of Esau: ‘Bring me the
Torah which I gave to you!’ Then they will bring The eighth sign: ‘at that time the great angelic
him their book of lies, and he will assent, saying: leader Michael will arise’, and at that time Elijah
‘Truly this is what I gave to you!’ Israel will will come along with the Messiah of the lineage
suddenly be confused, but Nehemiah b. Hushiel of David in order to fulfill what scripture has
will come, he and thirty warriors accompanying said: ‘he shall turn the heart of the fathers to
him with weapons concealed beneath their the sons, and the heart of the sons to the
garments, and they will take a Torah scroll and fathers’. The Messiah will not need to wage
come to him and read aloud before him: ‘You battle: he will only have to fix his eyes on
shall have no other gods before Me!’. He will Armilos in order to exterminate him from the
say to them: ‘This is not my Torah at all!’ world, as scripture states: ‘he will slay the
Nehemiah will say to him: ‘You are no deity, wicked one with the breath of his mouth’.
only Satan!’ Immediately he will cry out against
him and say to his servants: ‘Seize him and hang
him!’ He will do battle with them and kill many
of them. Then the anger of Armilos will
intensify, and he will gather all the nations and
advance to make war on Israel ‘between the
seas and the beautiful holy mountain’. He will The ninth sign: the Messiah will request of the
strike a great blow against Israel and will kill the Holy One, blessed be He, that He resurrect the
Messiah. At that time the Holy One, blessed be dead, and the Messiah of the lineage of Joseph
He, will issue a command to the sun and it will will be resurrected first.
at that time remain underground, and the
world will be dark. Israel will experience great
distress. When Israel sees that the Messiah is
dead, their courage will fail and they will run
away, and the world will experience extremely
great distress. Israel will conceal themselves in
end of fragment
caves for forty-five days, sustaining themselves
during that time on weeds. Why was Armilos
given the power to kill the Messiah of the
lineage of Ephraim? It was done so as to break
the hearts of those dissidents among Israel who
said: ‘The Messiah for whom we were waiting
The tenth sign: the coming of Gog and Magog, just as is described in the book of Ezekiel.

May the Holy One, blessed be He, grant us the privilege of seeing it! Amen, may it happen quickly during
our lifetime! May His will be done! Amen!