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The Third Heaven is a division of Heaven in religious cosmology. In some traditions it is considered the abode of God,〔Henry, Matthew, (''Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume VI (Acts to Revelation)'': Second Corinthians Chap. XII ), Public domain, Library of Congress call no: BS490.H4, at (Christian Classics Ethereal Library )〕 and in others a lower level of Paradise, commonly one of seven.〔Ginzberg, Louis (1909) (''The Legends of the Jews'' ), Chapter 1, at (sacred-texts.com )〕 ==Judaism== The early books of the Tanakh reference Heaven (Heb. ''Shamayim''), but not a Third Heaven or a specific number of heavens.〔 Heaven is mentioned several times in the first chapter of Genesis. It appears in the first verse as a creation of God. His dividing the light from the darkness in verses 4 and 5 this has been interpreted as the separation of heaven into two sections: day (God's throne) and night (where our universe is contained). In verse 8 heaven refers to the atmosphere over the earth in which birds fly, and in verse 14 it's the setting for the celestial lights, later identified (verse 16) as the sun, moon and stars.〔See a good Commentary on Youtube (Ruckman, Andrew Gen. 1 part 1)〕 A third concept of Heaven, also called ''shamayi h'shamayim'' (שׁמי השׁמים or "Heaven of Heavens"), is mentioned in such passages as Genesis 28:12, Deuteronomy 10:14 and 1 Kings 8:27 as a distinctly spiritual realm containing (or being traveled by) angels and God.〔van der Toorn, Becking, van der Horst (1999), ''Dictionary of Deities and Demons in The Bible'', Second Extensively Revised Edition, Entry: ''Heaven'', pp. 388–390, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, ISBN 0-8028-2491-9〕 The ambiguity of the term ''shamayim'' in the Hebrew Bible, and the fact that it's a plural word, give "heavens" various interpretations regarding its nature, notably the ascension of the prophet Elijah. In the non-canonical Second Book of Enoch, Third Heaven is described as a location "between corruptibility and incorruptibility" containing the Tree of Life, "whereon the Lord rests, when he goes up into paradise." (chapter 8) Two springs in the Third Heaven, one of milk and the other of honey, along with two others of wine and oil, flow down into the Garden of Eden. (verse 6) In contrast with the common concept of Paradise, the Second Book of Enoch also describes a Third Heaven, "a very terrible place" with "all manner of tortures" in which merciless angels torment "those who dishonour God, who on earth practice sin against nature," including sodomites, sorcerers, enchanters, witches, the proud, thieves, liars and those guilty of various other transgressions. (chapter 10) In the Slavonic version of the ''Greek Apocalypse of Baruch'', also known as 3 Baruch, the author is shown a phoenix, and a dragon residing there is said to eat the bodies of "those that have spent their lives in evil."〔(Baruch, Apocalypse of ) at (jewishencyclopedia.com )〕 In ''The Legends of the Jews'' by Louis Ginzberg, this third division of Paradise is said to be, like the other six, "twelve myriads of miles in width and twelve myriads of miles in length," built of silver and gold, and containing "the best of everything there is in heaven."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Third Heaven」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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