Judaism in "Paradise Lost"

            “Not by destroying Satan, but his works in thee and in thy seed; nor can this be, but by fulfilling that which thou didst want, obedience to the law of God…”                          
              Many are familiar with Milton’s seventeenth century epic poem, Paradise Lost. The story of the man’s fall and subsequent redemption, written in the poet’s beautiful, graceful prose, are well-known events to Christians and non-Christians alike. However what is not so widespread is the fact that many sources which Milton draws upon to retell the drama come from Judaism and rabbinical midrash. Taking a close look at his masterpiece we find many similarities between Milton and the rabbis, many Jewish sources and names, and many rich ancient traditions taken from the Chosen People.                       
           This may seem odd at first glance, for Milton was a devout Christian, living in an anti-Semetic England of the 1600s, during a period of pietism. His contemporaries were predominantly Protestant or Catholic – it was an age where Jews were branded as heretics and outsiders who had killed the Christians’ Jesus. Moreover, Paradise Lost is rife with mythological characters of Greek and Roman origin – in other words, paganism. How could this kind of man coming from this historical background and religion, use Judaism in his most famous poem already containing numerous Gentile inventions? Yet he did with astounding success, creating a timeless work, famous for its beauty and scholarship.                                                                     Obviously since Milton’s account comes from the Jewish Torah, all his characters and geography are Jewish. The Garden of Eden is Gan Eden and the Devil is Hasatan, well-known figures in rabbinical thought. Milton also appears to have a wide knowledge of the “Old Testament” – that is, the section of the Bible containing the five books of Torah, writings and prophets. He displays a broad knowledge of Judaic tradition, for example, when he describes one of Hasatan’s angels:                  
"First Moloch, horrid King besmeared with blood
Of human sacrifice, and parents tears… him the Ammonite,
Worshiped in Rabba and her watery plain,
In Argob and in Basan, to the stream
Of utmost Arnon. Nor content with such
Audacious neighborhood, the wisest heart
Of Solomon he led by fraud to build
His temple right against the temple of God,
On that opprobrious Hill, and made his Grove
The pleasant Valley of Hinnom, Tophet thence
And black Gehenna called, the Type of Hell”…                                                                         
          Milton spoke Hebrew and seemed familiar with all these places and people, unlike many other Christians. This is in part because he was a Puritan who predominantly identified with the Jews– moreover he used Mosaic laws many times in his arguments in politics.                                                                                    There are also similarities between Milton’s midrashes and those of the rabbis. Paradise Lost contains many stories such as conversations between Hashem and the Messiah and between the angel Michael and Adam. These types of “elaborations”, so to speak, follow the same structure as the midrashes of Rashi. A Jewish author Golda Werman even contends that “Paradise Lost can be considered as a modern midrash; it is largely a midrashic commentary on a few brief Biblical passages. Milton turned and turned the Biblical text to derive every possible meaning from it as a midrashist would have done.” For instance, Adam’s pleading with Hashem for a partner in Paradise Lost parallels the Jewish midrash from Genesis Rabbah. In Paradise Lost the story of Adam’s naming "each Bird and Beast. . . Approaching two and two,"… ending with his entreaty to God ("In solitude/What happiness, who can enjoy alone, Or all enjoying, what contentment find!”)  is very similar to the midrash; "Hashem brought all the living creatures before Adam in pairs. Adam said, 'For each one there is a partner, but there is no partner for me!’”                                                                                                                                                                             Many of Milton’s sources are Jewish as well – his main one seems to be the Pirke-de-Rabbi Eliezer of the 700s, who wrote midrash composed primarily of the Jerusalem Talmud and the Targum – it is quoted by, among others, Rashi and the Rambam.                                                                                                                                                 Milton’s use of Judaism in his masterpiece may on the surface, seem to be inappropriate or strange – however, taking a close look, it becomes apparent that this is what makes the poem so epic and realistic. After all, the “Christian” account of the Fall and Redemption is a Jewish one and its midrashim and Jewish commentators are its supreme authorities. Milton’s masterful combination of Hellenism, Christianity and Judaism color the pages of Paradise Lost like no other author has done before nor will be able to do again.