Pemikiran Yahudi Ratapan 5:19: Guide for the Perplexed

These, however (the Essence and Greatness of God) need not be considered as something separate from the God Himself or as part of the Creation, so that God would appear to have existed both without the throne, and with the throne: such a belief would be undoubtedly heretical. It is distinctly stated, “Thou, O Lord, remainest for ever; Thy throne from generation to generation” (Lam. 5:19). By “Thy throne” we must, therefore, understand something inseparable from God. On that account, both here and in all similar passages. the word “throne” denotes God’s Greatness and Essence, which are inseparable from His Being. Our opinion will be further elucidated in the course of this Treatise.

When applied to God, the verb is to be taken in that latter sense: “Thou O Lord, remainest (tesheb) for ever” (Lam. 5:19); “O thou who sittest (ha-yoshebi) in the heavens” (Ps. 123:1); “He who sitteth in the heavens” (ii. 4), i.e., He who is everlasting, constant, and in no way subject to change; immutable in His Essence, and as He consists of nought but His Essence, He is mutable in no way whatever; not mutable in His relation to other things: for there is no relation whatever existing between Him and any other being, as will be explained below, and therefore no change as regard; such relations can take place in Him. Hence He is immutable in every respect, as He expressly declares, “I, the Lord, do not change” (Mal. 3:6); i.e., in Me there is not any change whatever. This idea is expressed by the term yashab when referring to God.

The creation of the throne of glory is mentioned by our Sages, though in a strange way: for they say that it has been created before the creation of the Universe. Scripture, however, does not mention the creation of the throne, except in the words of David, “The Lord hath established his throne in the heavens” (Ps. 103:19), which words admit of figurative interpretation; but the eternity of the throne is distinctly described, “Thou, O Lord, dwellest for ever, thy throne for ever and ever” (Lam. 5:19).