The Divine Nod: from the Uppermost Summit of Mount Olympus to the Innermost Sanctum on the Temple Mount

Abstract Why did the rabbis of antiquity ( Hazal ) choose to refer to Homeric literature when they could have readily used a biblical alternative? A Baraita in Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 7a records a remarkable dialogue between Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha and Akatriel in the innermost sanctum. The dialogue concludes with Akatriel’s enigmatic nod of the head. Comparing this dialogue to the Iliad episode (1.495–530) in which Zeus nods his head as an oath and commitment to Thetis suggests that the Baraita’s author likely modeled the dialogue on the Iliad’s scene. After showing how well-known, awe-inspiring, and majestic the Iliad’s episode was in Greco-Roman culture, I suggest that the Baraita’s author chose this as a model to achieve a similar effect, which was not available in any biblical alternative.